Paying Taxes as a Grad Student or Postdoc

Quarterly Estimated Tax for Fellowship Recipients

Your stipend or salary is almost certainly considered taxable income by the IRS, even if Stanford does not withhold income tax from your paychecks. How can you prepare to pay your tax bill and stay on the IRS’s good side? Whether your objective is to save up for your eventual tax bill, avoid an underpayment penalty, or both, this workshop, developed by Dr. Emily Roberts of Personal Finance for PhDs and provided to you for free by Mind Over Money, shows you how to accomplish it in a time-efficient manner. The Estimated Tax Worksheet in Form 1040-ES tells you definitively whether you are required to make estimated tax payments and how large your tax bill is this year, and this workshop walks you line-by-line through how to fill it out. The workshop also addresses the common scenarios graduate students, postdocs, and postbacs face, such as switching on to or off of fellowship mid-calendar year and being married to someone who has automatic income tax withholding. Note: This workshop is only for US citizens, permanent residents, and residents for tax purposes.

Access the 2025 Estimated Taxes resource

About Dr. Emily Roberts

Dr. Emily Roberts is a personal finance educator specializing in early-career PhDs. Through her business, Personal Finance for PhDs, she equips graduate students, postdocs, and PhDs with “real jobs” to make the most of their money. She gives seminars at universities and for associations; interviews PhDs on her podcast; and creates courses and workshops on taxes, investing, and more. Emily holds a PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University and lives in San Diego with her husband and two children.