Scholarships
An applicable person may get an educational scholarship payment to assist with their study and associated costs. Depending on the scholarship agreement, some or all of the scholarship payment may be included as assessable income for Income Related Rent.
When a scholarship is assessable income?
Any portion of a scholarship paid for living costs or that can be used as the recipient wishes will generally be considered assessable income for Income Related Rent purposes when it is paid for a period over which Income Related Rent is assessed.
Any portion of a scholarship paid for fees or course-related costs is generally not included as assessable income for Income Related Rent purposes.
Some scholarships may not include payments for both course costs and living costs. The terms and conditions of the scholarship will set out the period the scholarship covers, the types of costs it is paid for and the amount paid for each type of cost.
Period the scholarship is awarded for
Scholarships are awarded for study in part of a year, a whole year, or more than one year. The assessable income from the scholarship payment is applied to the study period covered by the scholarship.
Where a scholarship is paid in instalments due to academic or study requirements, the assessable income from the scholarship is applied to the whole of the study period covered by the scholarship, and not just at the point the instalment is received.
Example of a scholarship as assessable income
The TeachNZ Career Changer scholarship is paid to a student for living costs for each year of study up to 2 full-time years. The scholarship is paid fortnightly over a 32-week period. There are no course fees or course-related costs associated with the scholarship.
The TeachNZ Career Changer scholarship would be included as assessable income for Income Related Rent purposes for the 32-week period over which it is paid.
