Processing Scholarship, Fellowship and Other Student Payments
Processing Scholarship, Fellowship and Other Student PaymentsTo provide guidance to Georgia Tech colleges, schools, departments and units as it relates to processing scholarship, fellowship other student payments.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Publication 520 covers the rules for the taxation of student payments. The publication states that the part of any grant, scholarship, or fellowship that represents payments for teaching, research or any other service is taxable to the student. Colleges and universities are obligated to withhold taxes on any award that represents compensation for services. Nonresident alien students may have taxes withheld on awards that do not represent compensation for services. Their tax obligations are governed by their visa status, United States (US) tax laws, and/or the tax treaty between the US and their country of residence.
The Institute is responsible for withholding payroll taxes on the portion of a fellowship or traineeship award made to a student (U. S. Citizen, Resident Alien, or Nonresident Alien who is not claiming an exemption under the provisions of a tax treaty), which represents payment for services required to be performed in order to receive the award. Failure to withhold the taxes when required may create unexpected tax liabilities for Georgia Tech students and cause the Institute to incur serious financial penalties. The Institute will provide the student with a Form W-2 at year-end, which will report to him/her income earned and taxes withheld. The student is responsible for determining his/her tax liability and filing his/her individual income tax return with the IRS. The department is responsible for determining if a student's scholarship, fellowship or other award is requires services to be rendered before receipt of payment. The student, however, is responsible for providing sufficient information to the department to enable a determination of status. Ultimately, it is the student’s responsibility to determine his/her tax liability and file a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service each year.
For more information related to the responsibility of the student in determining his/her own tax liability, please visit the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA) Tax Information website.
This policy is not applicable to payments made to graduate student assistants (GSA's), graduate research assistants (GRA's), and graduate teaching assistants (GTA's).
This policy applies to all schools, colleges, departments, and units of the Institute.
Scholarship – Trainee - Fellowship Payment Grid
The Scholarship – Trainee – Fellowship payment grid provides detailed information on processing student payments. That information includes the following:
- Type of Program/Student
- Program Description (Training Grant, Award, Schl, Fell)
- Account Code
- Project ID (997 project, 998 project or other project)
- Routing Information (Financial Aid, Bursar, AP, Payroll, etc)
- Forms Required (Check Request Form, Vendor Profile Form, Bursar’s Special Payment Form, etc)
- IRS Reporting Requirement for US Students and Non-US Students
Institute Policy for Scholarship/Fellowship Payments and the Payment of Prizes/Awards to Students
For additional administrative information about student payments and the definitions of the different types of student payments, please see Institute Policy for Scholarship/Fellowship Payments and the Payment of Prizes/Awards to Students.
Bursar’s Office Website
Additional information related to student payments may also be found on the Bursar’s Office website at http://www.bursar.gatech.edu/content/forms.
- The student is responsible for providing sufficient information to the department to enable a determination of status. The student is also ultimately responsible for determining his/her tax liability and filing his/her individual income tax return with the IRS.
- The department is responsible for determining if a student's scholarship, fellowship or other award is requires services to be rendered before receipt of payment.
- The Bursar’s Office, Accounts Payable and the Payroll Office are responsible for ensuring timely payments to students.
To report suspected instances of noncompliance with this policy, please visit Georgia Tech’s EthicsPoint, a secure and confidential reporting system, at: https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/en/report_custom.asp?clientid=7508
| Revision Date | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 10-03-2014 | Controller’s Office | Periodic review and verbiage update. Policy Number change. Assignment change to Bursar’s Office. |