The Taxman Cometh
I filed my taxes today. I had to make some tough decisions, as I do every year, regarding various nuts-and-bolts issues hottly debated among the graduate community round these parts. Can we claim the lifetime learning credit, where and how do we enter TA stipends, etc. etc.
I find it mesmerizing me how these issues confound my peers and I, year after year. I'll grant the federal government that we graduate students are in a trickier-than-average tax situation. The source of our salary changes almost every semester, and it's a mess figuring out if and where taxes were witheld and by which state or federal agency. But I think it's fair to say that people in my line of work possess some of the sharpest minds in the nation, and if we still have no clue how to fairly compensate the government, doesn't that signify a deep, deep flaw in the system? Good engineering promotes proper use, you know.
Comments
General rule of thumb: if you are going to take any sort of credit, you have to include the thing you are taking credit for as income. For example, if we take the life-time learning credit, we have to report our tuition as income. This is a bad idea, because it puts us in a higher tax bracket and therefore increases our taxes even though we get a credit for the tuition. I have also learned through various fellowhsips that the 1098-T is fairly useless. It never adds up and apparently that is ok. I do a hand calculation of all my wages and add any that are not on a W-2 as SCH (ie, scholarship). Marie should be familiar with that. Honestly though, our taxes are not that complicated ... I married Richelle and it got ridiculous because of her investments ... thank God for Turbo Tax and Morgan Stanley online or I would be screwed ... I mean, our 1099 form is like 30 pages long. Wait till we have a house, kids, and all the other crap that comes with getting old. [N.B., the opinions expressed here are by no means professional tax advice, that is, do not sue me if I am wrong.]
Posted by: A.J. | March 11, 2006 11:21 PM
One other thing ... if you screwed up ... the 1040X is your friend. I am hopign this will be the first year I do not have to fill one out.
Posted by: A.J. | March 11, 2006 11:22 PM
Apparently you are screening comments now?
Posted by: AJ | March 13, 2006 06:33 PM