From: PNCSPPC@ccvax1.cc.ncsu.edu
Newsgroups: soc.college.grad
Subject: Stipend taxation bill (update)
Date: 28 Sep 1992 12:28:01 -0500
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

In response to my query, a kind person sent me the following update:
 
 
                              FACT SHEET
                         House Resolution 4418
 
Title:  "A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to restore the
prior law exclusion for scholarships and fellowships"
 
Bill Digest:  Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to repeal the provision
taxing scholarships and fellowships, and to exclude them from gross income,
beginning with the 1987 tax year.  Waives the statute of limitations for
related refund or credit claims filed within one year of enactment of this
Act.
 
Co-Sponsors, as of August 28, 1992:  Emerson, Crane, Tanner, Towns,
Sanders, Owens (NY), Cox (CA), Costello, Hughes, Zeliff, Frost, McMillen
(MD), Packard, Horton,
 
Kolbe,
 
Taylor (NC), Dornan (CA), Gingrich, Frank (MA), Hastert , Hayes (IL),
Evans, Marlenee, Roe, Lagomarsino, Mineta, Moorhead, Barton, Jefferson,
Rinaldo, Clinger, Poshard, Rhodes, Spence, and Atkins.
 
---------------------------------------
 
                             Sample Letter
 
The Honorable (name)
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
 
Dear Congressman or Congresswoman _________________:
 
 
I am writing to voice my support for House Resolution 4418 and ask for your
cosponsorship of this important piece of legislation.
 
Prior to the 1986 Tax Reform Act, any money received by a student in the
form of a scholarship or fellowship was tax-free.  This was an important
exclusion, since it encouraged individuals like myself to continue my
education. Graduate scholarships and fellowships are not large--every
dollar counts when you are devoting yourself to your studies.
The 1986 Tax Reform Act changed all that.  Since 1986, only that
scholarship money that went to tuition, books or fees was tax-free.  Money
for room and board, often the larger portion of the scholarship, is now
considered taxable income.
 
The decision to go to graduate school was not an easy one for me and one of
the primary considerations was whether I would be able to afford to live on
my scholarship money.  Many of my fellow undergraduate students chose
otherwise, entering the workforce rather than going on to a Master's or
Ph.D.  The elimination of 25% of an already meager income was surely a
factor in their decision.
 
HR 4418 would eliminate this disincentive to post-baccalaureate education.
Even if the legislation is not retroactive to 1986, as currently written,
making scholarships and fellowships tax-free for future students would be a
step in the right direction to educating future generations and increasing
our nation's competitiveness.
 
I look forward to hearing that you've become a co-sponsor.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Name 
Address 
Phone Number
 
For more information, contact NAGPS at (708) 256-1562, or Andrew Cherry,
Legislative
 
 
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