Introduction
Recipients of student prizes or awards are typically selected through a contest, drawing, or
competition. Students may also be selected in recognition of charitable, scientific,
educational, artistic, literary, or civic achievements.
Restrictions are typically not imposed on how a student can use prizes or awards. Thus,
student prizes and awards are not restricted to educational purposes.
If the funding source of the student prize or award is a gift or endowment income fund, then
the donor may set the criteria for recipient selection but may not select the actual
recipient(s).
It is important to distinguish student prizes and awards from other types of payments to
ensure proper financial statement reporting and compliance with the applicable Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) reporting and withholding rules. Common examples of payments that are
not student prizes and awards include:
- Wages and other payments for employment services. These payments must be process through
University Payroll and Benefits (UPB).
- Scholarships, Fellowships and Educational Assistance Grants that are required to be used
for:
- Educational expenses
- Travel which primarily benefits the student’s education
- Research activities that primarily benefits the student’s education
- Room and board
- See details at Scholarships, Fellowships and Educational Assistance Grants
IRS Reporting
Prizes and awards are reported to the IRS and the recipient on Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous
Income, by University Payables (UPAY). A SSN is required for IRS Form 1099-MISC reporting.
Therefore, payment of prizes and awards will be suspended if no valid SSN record exists in
Banner. Before submitting prize and award requests, units are strongly encouraged to check
Banner form SPAIDEN for asterisks in the SSN field and to instruct recipients whose SSN
field is blank to present documentation of their SSN to their Registrar’s Office.
Note: the IRS imposes different tax requirements for Nonresident
Alien recipients of prizes and awards; for details please visit Non-Wage
Payments (login required)
U.S. Department of Education (ED) Compliance
Prizes and awards are reported to the Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA) and considered a
resource when determining the student's financial aid eligibility. Therefore, these
payments may have an impact on the type and amount of financial aid the student is eligible
to receive.
OSFA will make the necessary adjustments to the student’s financial aid upon
notification of the payments. These adjustments may create or increase a balance due on the
student’s university account. Students are encouraged to view their Financial Aid
Award letter and their billing statement periodically throughout the semester.
The University of Illinois System's reporting responsibility with respect to Federal
Student Aid (FSA) and any other financial assistance received by students is outlined in the
FSA Administrative
& Related Requirements (Chapter 3), specifically pages 2-33, "Coordinating
Official".
How to Process
U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents, and Resident Aliens for tax purposes (Resident
Aliens)
Prizes and awards paid to U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents, and Resident Alien students are
disbursed to the student's university account and will be applied to any outstanding
charges on the student’s account unless the student or unit emails aroperations@uillinois.edu to request the
prize or award be refunded to the student.
Nonresident Aliens
Please refer to Non-Wage
Payments (login required) for job aids and training materials.
Financial Reporting Guidelines
To ensure compliance with fund accounting and financial reporting requirements and any other
applicable guidelines (such as donor intent), student prizes and awards should typically be
recorded to Banner using:
- Account code 181700 (Student Prizes and Awards) and
- A program code rolling up to the 1789 (Student Prizes and Awards) NACUBO function.
In addition, if the student prize or award is recorded to a Banner gift or endowment income
fund, then it must comply with the donor’s intent.
Gift Cards
U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents, and Resident Aliens for tax purposes (Resident Aliens)
For gift cards or gift certificates presented to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and
resident aliens equal to or greater than $200, the notification must
be emailed to University Payables and the recipient’s campus Office of Student
Financial Aid (OSFA).
For gift cards or gift certificates presented to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and
resident aliens less than $200, the notification must be emailed to
the recipient’s campus Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA).
For security purposes, this information is sent using the Protected Email Attachment Application
(PEAR) system. The PEAR email must include the dollar value, along with the
student's name, UIN, address, and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). If unfamiliar
with PEAR, consult the AITS PEAR
Resource Page. Send the email to UPAY as well as the appropriate Financial Aid
email listed below:
For additional information, see Tax Implications for Payments.
Nonresident Aliens
Gift cards or gift certificates presented to nonresident alien students are taxable,
regardless of the amount. Therefore, whenever possible, process gifts to nonresident aliens
as a prize or award using the Foreign
National Payment e-Form, not as a gift card. If a gift card must be presented,
report the gift amount on the Foreign
National Payment e-Form together with the required documents for tax reporting
purposes, especially the W-8BEN. Please refer to Non-Wage
Payments (login required) for additional information.
What to Inform Students
When offering a prize or award to a student, units are strongly encouraged to provide the
following information to the recipient:
- All prizes and awards are considered a resource when determining the student's
eligibility for financial aid. Therefore, they are reported to the Office of Student
Financial Aid (OSFA), and may have an impact on the type and amount of financial aid the
student receives. OSFA will make the necessary adjustment to the student’s
financial aid award upon notification of the prize or award. This adjustment may create
or increase a balance due on the student’s U of I System account. The student is
responsible for reviewing her/his Financial Aid Award letter and student account billing
statement after the prize or award has been paid in order to understand the impact of
the payment.
- All prizes and awards paid to U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents, and Resident Aliens
are taxable income and reported to the IRS and the student on Form
1099-MISC. A SSN is required for IRS Form 1099-MISC reporting, so payment of the
prize or award will be suspended if no valid SSN record exists in Banner. Students whose
SSN field in Banner is blank must present documentation of their SSN to the Office of
the Registrar.
- All prizes and awards are disbursed to the student's university account and applied
to any outstanding charges on the student’s university account unless the student
or unit emails aroperations@uillinois.edu to request
the prize or award be refunded to the student; the student must be enrolled in direct
deposit to receive the refund.
Please see sample email template to send students who are U.S. Citizens or
Resident Aliens for tax purposes, when offering them a prize or award.
Please see sample email template to send students who are nonesident aliens for
tax purposes, when offering them a prize or award.