Schedule A (Form 1040 or 1040NR) if you are an employee, file Schedule C
(Form 1040), Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040), or Schedule F (Form 1040) if you are
self-employed and have expenses for education that meet
other requirements.
You can deduct the costs of qualifying work-related
education as business expenses. This is education
is education that
is required by your employer or the law to keep your present
salary, status or job or the
education maintains or improves skills needed in your present work.The required education must serve a bona fide business purpose of
your employer.However, even
if the education meets one or both of the tests, it is not qualifying
work-related education if it
is needed to meet the minimum educational requirements of your present trade
or business or is part of a program of study that will
qualify you for a new trade or business.
You can deduct the costs of qualifying work-related
education as a business expense even if the education could lead to a
degree.
Education you need to meet the minimum educational
requirements for your present trade or business is not qualifying
work-related education. Once you have met the minimum educational
requirements for your job, your employer or the law may require you to get
more education. This additional education is qualifying work-related
education if is required for you to keep your present salary, status or job,
the requirement serves a business
purpose of your employer and if the education is not part
of a program that will qualify you for a new trade or business.When you get more education than
your employer or the law requires, the additional education can be
qualifying work-related education only if it maintains or improves skills
required in your present work.
If your education is not required by your employer or
the law, it can be qualifying work-related education only if it maintains or
improves skills needed in your present work. This could include refresher
courses, courses on current developments and academic or vocational courses.
Qualified
tuition programs authorized under section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code —
that allow taxpayers to either prepay or contribute to an account for paying
a student's qualified higher education expenses. Similarly, colleges and
groups of colleges sponsor 529 plans that allow them to prepay a student's
qualified education expenses. These 529 plans have, in recent years, become
a popular way for parents and other family members to save for a child’s
college education. Though contributions to 529 plans are not deductible,
there is also no income limit for contributors.
529 plan distributions are tax-free as long as they
are used to pay qualified higher education expenses for a designated
beneficiary. Qualified expenses include tuition, required fees, books and
supplies. For someone who is at least a half-time student, room and board
also qualify.
For 2009 and 2010, an ARRA change to tax-free
college savings plans and prepaid tuition programs added to this list
expenses for computer technology and equipment or Internet access and
related services to be used by the student while enrolled at an eligible
educational institution. Software designed for sports, games or hobbies does
not qualify, unless it is predominantly educational in nature. In general,
expenses for computer technology are not qualified expenses for the American
opportunity credit, lifetime learning credit or tuition and fees deduction.
