A: You may go into MyUH and check your tuition account. If the account shows a line item titled "Refund Check Transfer to ISS," the amount next it is your overaward. You will not see any balance at the bottom of your tuition account because the award has been transferred temporarily to a holding account. You may initially receive a notice from Star or the Cashierʻs Office about this overaward.
A: Only after the 50% tuition refund deadline (usually in the fourth week of the semester), the Cashier's Office will determine which students have an overaward and forward a list to ISS. When ISS receives that list, one of the following will happen:
- ISS will email you about the scholarship overaward, and ask that you follow the directions on these pages to get your award. Click on Directions for Processing Scholarship Overawards in the navigation at the right to complete the tax paperwork for your scholarship overaward.
or,
- ISS will process your overaward immediately. You may contact ISS about the fifth week of the semester to see if the award has been processed.
A: According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the federal agency responsible for collecting taxes, any scholarship received by a student that does not pay for "qualified education expenses" is liable for taxes. The IRS defines states that "qualified expenses are amounts paid for tuition, fees and other related expense for an eligible student that are required for enrollment or attendance at an eligible educational institution." Examples other than tuition and fees are required books, lab fees, and equipment needed for classes. Examples of nonqualified expenses are room and board, insurance, medical expenses, transportation, and personal expenses. As an international student who is a Nonresident Alien (NRA) for tax purposes, any scholarship that does not automatically go toward the qualified education expenses initially is considered taxable income, even if you use the money later to pay down tuition.
A: If you need to submit forms, expect 2-4 weeks after ISS receives the completed forms. Delays may happen if the forms are incomplete or need corrections.
If you had already submitted the appropriate forms to ISS or another office (that updates your tax status at the UH Disbursing Office) for the current tax year, expect 1-2 weeks.
NOTE: University payment schedules for these overawards are set for only the middle and end of each month. If the overaward is processed, additional wait time may be added due to this payment schedule.
A: You may submit the necessary tax documents to ISS in advance.
A: You must submit paperwork to update your tax status for each calendar year. If you have already submitted paperwork once for a calendar year, then you probably do not have to submit again unless there are substantial changes like your mailing address. You must submit these tax forms to update for a calendar year regardless of your tax status in the previous year.
- Example 1: You received your first overaward in spring semester, and submitted tax paperwork. You received another overaward in fall of the same year. Since you already submitted your paperwork, and there has been a determination of your tax status, you will not have to submit again for fall.
- Example 2: You received your first overaward in fall semester, and submitted tax paperwork. You received another overaward in spring of the following year. Even though you submitted your tax paperwork for fall, you must submit again because the spring semester is in a new calendar year.
- Example 3: You received your first overaward in fall semester, and submitted tax paperwork that determined you were a resident for tax purposes. You received another overaward in spring the following year. Even though you submitted your tax paperwork for fall, you must submit again regardless of your past tax status because the spring semester is in a new calendar year.
A: ISS acts as an intermediary between all the relevant stakeholders to ensure that students can get their scholarship overawards in a timely manner. Because of U.S. tax laws, any payments made directly to international students must first be reviewed for tax withholding. ISS helps to ensure a proper workflow, but is not directly involved in the accounting and tax determinations.
A: Contact ISS and let us know you do not want award. Then, contact your scholarship award agency/office, and ask them to withdraw the excess amount from your total award. When this is completed, confirm it with ISS.
A: No, ISS does not provide tax advice. Please consult a licensed tax advisor.