Tax deductions for eduction expenses – business?
My wife started a new part-time job in September in a new industry. She then decided to go to school starting in late October to enhance her skills i...
My wife started a new part-time job in September in a new industry. She then decided to go to school starting in late October to enhance her skills in the field. The school is not eligible for student aid, so she cannot take the tuition and fees deduction. However, would this qualify for the business education expense deduction (less 2% AGI)? She will be starting her own business in this field in 2008 – would there be a better way to deduct this expense?
Contrary to "v b", education is deductible if it does not qualify her for a new position. It sounds as if she is working in the industry, and the education "enhance(s) her skills" in the field, so it might qualify. If the education is required for her to work independently in the business, it probably isn’t deductible, but may conceivably be acceptable as a "start-up" expense of the new business, amortized over at least 5 years.
Nope. It would have to meet various tests (publication 970).
One of the tests is that the education is to improve her existing job skills, not prepare her for a new field.