I did a finance PhD. We don't have PIs. Email cost is trivial, etc. Put it another way: I don't care if my employer just spent a bunch of money on a better bui

I did a finance PhD. We don't have PIs. Email cost is trivial, etc. Put it another way: I don't care if my employer just spent a bunch of money on a better building or more comfy office chairs. I don't care if the IT department charges my unit $XYZ for expenses (call it "tuition" if you want). That's something that happens on the back end of my employer, and is not an income for me. That's the same thing for grad school. I got paid 20k to work on research, teach, grade, and help in maintaining the school's name so they can get MBA students (who ultimately pay the bills in our case). Why should I care if one unit at my school charged another unit? Heck, I paid taxes and social security on those 20k, got health insurance, had a W2, etc. For all practical purposes, PhD students are employees. Make them pay taxes on their income, and not on the incidental expenses of their employers.