A note to first year students about taxes which could have helped me
when I was a first year had I known: SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS FROM THE
BOOKSTORE. The only part of your stipend that is taxable is the amount
you pocket *minus* the amount spent on course related materials. You
can attach a note itemizing your expenses and subtract the amount from
your federal income. This is *not* part of the deductions section on
tax forms. Even if you don't itemize deductions, you can still take
off money spent on course related materials. It isn't clear exactly
what defines course related materials, but that's another story. It
also isn't clear whether we need itemized receipts or not but most
people I've spoken to say that we don't. Foreign students: This is
probably all very cryptic to you but in the U.S. everyone must fill
out tax forms once a year, sometime between January and April. Usually
a talk for foreign students is held sometime in March explaining about
taxes.