***Help us get the word out with the #graduatetaxwalkout, and join us by walking to either Founder’s Plaza on North Campus or Main Bus stop Between Foster and Crosby Halls on South Campus on WEDNESDAY November 29th at 1:00pm EST.***

Dear fellow graduate students and people passionate about education,

We were distressed to learn the proposed federal tax bill will have negative impacts on all graduate students throughout the country and therefore the advance of academic research. Specifically we are saddened that any member of congress is willing to increase the already high economic burden of being a graduate student by denying this chronically underpaid worker population their tuition tax waivers.

If you do not know, the House of Representatives approved a tax bill that eliminates the tax waiver on tuition waivers and eliminates student loan interest tax deductions.

Graduate research assistants receiving stipends are currently taxed at the income bracket their stipend falls into, below the poverty line of $16,000 for many at UB. Under the new bill, adjusted gross income for graduate students would now include tuition waivers as a form of “income.” This pushes graduate student tax expense upwards of 400%. Graduate School tuition at UB is approximately $21,000 for full time graduate students taking a full course-load. This cost is 1.5x more for international students, who make up the majority of the graduate student body. This would create taxable income at brackets far higher than what students are bringing home. In some schools it could create taxable incomes over $80,000. This would dramatically affect a graduate student’s ability to afford basic living expenses, which is devastating for those with children.

Should this tax bill become law, which is not unlikely, immediate action must be taken to change the tuition waiver to a scholarship. At the moment this is the only workaround and sends a powerful message to Washington.

This bill is just one of countless examples of the disregard for our nation’s higher education. Graduate students teach undergraduate classes, grade papers, conduct the lab work to obtain data for grants, and maintain educational programming infrastructure. Graduate students are the future of research, innovation, and technology.

Join us in this national walkout to show just how important graduate students are to science, higher education, public policy, and healthcare.

There is a nationwide walkout (#graduatetaxwalkout) on WEDNESDAY November 29th at 1:00pm EST to show how vital graduate students are to higher education and UB.

Science Demands Action, Inc (The Buffalo March for Science) will be participating and urge it’s supporters to do the same.

Help send a message by joining your graduate students!

Locations
North Campus- Founder’s Plaza
South Campus- Main Bus Stop Between Foster and Crosby

Help us get the word out with the #graduatetaxwalkout, and join us by walking to either Founder’s Plaza on North Campus or Main Bus stop Between Foster and Crosby Halls on South Campus on WEDNESDAY November 29th at 1:00pm EST.