Educational Grants and Scholarships

Question

 I have a query regarding a client who has received various scholarships and grants in the 2018 year.

The client is a sports person who received several amounts as a scholarship towards improving performance in the sport. These I have treated as exempt income as they were towards the costs of education and studies.

The client also received a large amount towards development and other costs for being in the high performance development squad.

I am unclear whether this latter amount is also exempt income or should I treat it as income.

Answer

 The grant would be assessable income.

An education grant is income to the recipient. An education grant is a basic grant or an independent circumstances grant under regulations made under s 303 of the Education Act 1989. However, any scholarship or bursary (other than those mentioned above) in respect of the recipient’s attendance at an educational institution is exempt income.