See the IRS webpage Tax Information for Students (Filing section) and the Do I Need to File a Tax Return? questionnaire. All fellowship and assistantship stipends are considered taxable income by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and by the state of Rhode Island. See the RI Division of Taxation for more information about Rhode Island state taxes. If you are living outside of Rhode Island, you should also check with your state of residence to find out whether you need to file a state tax return in that state.

You receive an appointment letter each term (fall, spring, and summer) through Self Service Banner (SSB). The type of appointment you have been assigned for each term will help to determine whether your payment in that term has taxes taken out at the time of payment. Appointments such as Fellowship, Traineeship, and External Funding (if it's paid through Brown) are all types of "Fellowship payments" and, for U.S. citizens and resident aliens, do not generally have tax taken out at the time of payment and are not reported on any tax form, but may be taxable and reportable at the time of your tax return filing. For non-resident aliens Fellowship, Traineeship, and External Funding (if it’s paid through Brown) are taxed at the time of payment. The tax rate is 14% for Federal and 3.75% for RI Taxes. If non-resident aliens have tax treaty benefits for Fellowship income and have returned the necessary tax forms then no taxes would be deducted from the payment.

Appointments such as Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Teaching Fellow, and Proctorship are "Stipend/Wage payments" and are generally taxed at the time of payment.  These payments are taxed based on the IRS and State of RI tax tables.  

You can reference your payslips (available in Workday) to find out if taxes were taken out at the time of payment.

If you received a payment from Brown and taxes were not taken out at the time of payment, it does not necessarily mean that payment is not taxable. For U.S. citizens and resident aliens, fellowship stipends do not generally have tax taken out at the time of payment and fellowship earnings will not be included in a W2 form. As such, if you received fellowship income for the entire calendar year you will not receive a W2 form from Brown University. However, all students are expected to report these earnings as taxable income and it is the responsibility of the student to keep the necessary records. 

IRS Publication 970, “Tax Benefits for Education,” explains the tax treatment of various types of educational assistance, including scholarships, fellowship grants, and tuition reductions. The IRS webpage Do I Include My Scholarship, Fellowship, or Education Grant as Income on My Tax Return? may also be helpful. The specific situation of each student affects if and how much different types of payments and support may be taxed. It is the sole responsibility of the student to report and pay taxes on the taxable portion of any scholarship, fellowship, or grant that is received.

Students looking for guidance on their specific situation should refer to resources from the Internal Revenue Service (parents can review the Tax Information for Parents webpage), or consult an accountant or income tax service.

See the IRS Basics of estimated taxes for individuals webpage.

Some students may receive a 1098-T (see the Bursar’s Office Education Tax Information page ) or a 1042-S (see the Bursar’s Office Taxation for International Students page). There will also be some students, notably, those who have been on a fellowship appointment for the entire calendar year, who do not receive any tax documents from Brown. Even if you do not receive tax documents from Brown you may still need to file a tax return and may need to pay taxes! The IRS webpage Tax Information for Students (Filing section) and the Do I Need to File a Tax Return? Questionnaire may be helpful.

Visit the Tax Treaties section in your Sprintax-Calculus account to view the tax treaties you are eligible for. You can visit the IRS Tax Treaties page for more information and find links to treaties for individual countries on the United States Income Tax Treaties - A to Z page.

Brown provides international students with the Sprintax-Calculus tax assessment program for those working or earning income at Brown and Sprintax tax preparation software for non-resident aliens filing Federal and State income tax returns. For more information about international student taxes, visit the OISSS Taxes page and the Bursar’s Taxation for International Students page.

Brown provides international students with Sprintax tax preparation software for non-resident aliens filing Federal and State income tax returns. All students can check to see if they qualify for free tax preparation help through the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. The Graduate School’s Tax Information for Graduate Students page also includes recordings of webinars related to graduation student taxes.

Visit the Residency Summary section in your Sprintax-Calculus account to view information about your current residency status. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you are considered a non-resident alien for tax purposes unless you meet one of two tests - the green card test (depending on whether you have a Permanent Resident Card or ‘green card’) or the substantial presence test (depending on how many days you were physically present in the U.S.). You can find more information about determining residency status on the IRS webpage Determining an Individual’s Tax Residency Status. Because your status may be dependent on how much time you have physically spent in the U.S., it may change during your time at Brown.