7 ms·

Students are not employees.

by chrisabrams 4y ago

stefan_ 4y ago
These are graduate students, who generally are and that do a large part of the teaching at any university.
thorncorona 4y ago
When I was working for my uni I got a W-2.
- thwayunion 4y ago
  Yes, but if you were a grad student your W-2 almost certainly didn't include your tuition rebate as part of your total income. And the university sure as hell didn't pay taxes on it.
  - selimthegrim 4y ago
    You can claim it depending on your student scholarship (NSF GRF) or postdoctoral status and what it says on your 1098.
    - eli_gottlieb 4y ago
      I have been explicitly told by a tax accountant that I cannot. If a third party makes a payment to one of their own offices, even presuming that money exists at all to begin with, I can't claim it on my taxes as income or a credit.
      - thwayunion 4y ago
        The person you're responding to is correct in very specific cases like the GRFP; certain fellowships function differently. You're correct in the case of 90+% of grad students.
        IG_Semmelweiss 4y ago
        If this income is not in your W2, then this is very-murky-grey-area-danger-zone stuff. Students and Universities both could be accused of underreporting income or tax witholdings. I suspect there are armies of education lawyers that vetted this, but in any other industry, this is simply a no-go zone. You report what you get and what you pay as comp, cash and noncash.
        thwayunion 4y ago
        Grad students are Very Special in tax code. For example: guess how much grad students and their universities pay in FICA taxes for graduate stipends (can be north of $40K; typically 8% of gross for employee and 8% of gross for employer)? $0.00. Tuition remissions in particular definitely do not show up on your W-2. Now, to the question in this thread. If you choose to report tuition as income, you might be able to do that in certain cases, but it's probably because you have some strange reason for wanting to report a higher gross income. I can't even begin think of any reason why that might be. So, murky and likely to cause an audit? Maybe. But then the gov is complaining about getting extra $$$, unless your situation is really fucking weird. Mind you, this is exactly why I find situations like this so reprehensible. Universities get tons of breaks in how they treat grad student labor. For universities to turn around around and fuck grad students like this, on top of the insulting wages, is beyond the pale.
jahewson 4y ago
In 2016 the NLRB ruled that graduate students who teach are, in fact, employees. Note that they have the right to even form a union. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/08/23/are-they-students-or-are-they-employees-nlrb-rules-that-graduate-students-are-employees/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/08/2... Edit: A slight twist on this is that Temple University is a public university and and the NLRB in theory does not have jurisdiction over other parts of the government. PA law, however, offers similar protection. This is off to court for sure.

Students are not employees.

stefan_ 4y ago

These are graduate students, who generally are and that do a large part of the teaching at any university.

thorncorona 4y ago

When I was working for my uni I got a W-2.

thwayunion 4y ago
Yes, but if you were a grad student your W-2 almost certainly didn't include your tuition rebate as part of your total income. And the university sure as hell didn't pay taxes on it.
- selimthegrim 4y ago
  You can claim it depending on your student scholarship (NSF GRF) or postdoctoral status and what it says on your 1098.
  - eli_gottlieb 4y ago
    I have been explicitly told by a tax accountant that I cannot. If a third party makes a payment to one of their own offices, even presuming that money exists at all to begin with, I can't claim it on my taxes as income or a credit.
    - thwayunion 4y ago
      The person you're responding to is correct in very specific cases like the GRFP; certain fellowships function differently. You're correct in the case of 90+% of grad students.
      - IG_Semmelweiss 4y ago
        If this income is not in your W2, then this is very-murky-grey-area-danger-zone stuff. Students and Universities both could be accused of underreporting income or tax witholdings. I suspect there are armies of education lawyers that vetted this, but in any other industry, this is simply a no-go zone. You report what you get and what you pay as comp, cash and noncash.
        thwayunion 4y ago
        Grad students are Very Special in tax code. For example: guess how much grad students and their universities pay in FICA taxes for graduate stipends (can be north of $40K; typically 8% of gross for employee and 8% of gross for employer)? $0.00. Tuition remissions in particular definitely do not show up on your W-2. Now, to the question in this thread. If you choose to report tuition as income, you might be able to do that in certain cases, but it's probably because you have some strange reason for wanting to report a higher gross income. I can't even begin think of any reason why that might be. So, murky and likely to cause an audit? Maybe. But then the gov is complaining about getting extra $$$, unless your situation is really fucking weird. Mind you, this is exactly why I find situations like this so reprehensible. Universities get tons of breaks in how they treat grad student labor. For universities to turn around around and fuck grad students like this, on top of the insulting wages, is beyond the pale.

jahewson 4y ago

In 2016 the NLRB ruled that graduate students who teach are, in fact, employees. Note that they have the right to even form a union. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/08/23/are-they-students-or-are-they-employees-nlrb-rules-that-graduate-students-are-employees/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/08/2... Edit: A slight twist on this is that Temple University is a public university and and the NLRB in theory does not have jurisdiction over other parts of the government. PA law, however, offers similar protection. This is off to court for sure.