The Financial Policy Office (FPO) is pleased to announce the publication of a new financial policy, Fellowship Payments and Reimbursements for Students and Non-employee Postdocs/Fellows. The FPO developed the policy in response to several departments' requests for assistance around taxation of fellowships paid to students and nonemployee postdocs. The policy provides guidance on when travel and other expenses of students/postdocs/fellows can be reimbursed without tax implications, and when these payments must be treated as gross income to the recipient. This policy was created through a highly collaborative process with partners in the schools, Strategic Procurement, Tax Reporting, the Office of General Counsel, and the Office for Sponsored Programs. The policy is effective as of 1/1/2015.
The policy is posted on the Financial Policy website, at http://policies.fad.harvard.edu/fellowships-vs-reimbursements, along with a comprehensive fellowships training document, the Fellowships Toolkit. Please direct questions about the policy to Andrea Sexton at andrea_sexton@harvard.edu or via phone at (617) 495-3976.