Can I deduct app. expenses from taxes?

[old lady]

I spent $3000 on applying to medical school and someone was just telling me I could deduct that, maybe using the lifetime learning credit. Have any of you done this? Can you deduct an MCAT prep course? Interview expenses? Application fees? What forms do you use?

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[Hero]

And if you already filed ur tax returns, can u still do it? Thanks.

 

[lake show]

no, you cannot deduct application expenses for tax purposes. btw, do you have that many deductions where your itemized is greater than the standard deduction? not me...and that's why it took like 30 minutes to do over hrblock.com

 

[trout]

You can deduct them under the lifetime learning or hope education credit....if you read that section it says any expense that is not food, living or transportation (books, expenses from meetings, conferences can be deducted so I don't see why this can't)...however, the catch maybe you have to be currently enrolled in a school that take that credit. Also it is only for federal and not state.

 

[old lady]

Actually it's not part of your itemized deductions- it would be in addition to your standard or itemized deductions. You get 20% of your education expenses taken right off your taxes. You can get up to $1000. I'm just not sure if our application expenses count. The IRS info says it has to be from a qualifying institution and they are supposed to send you form 1098-T. We need to figure this out because if it works we could all get several hundred dollars back. Does anyone else know anything?

 

[old lady]

I just called Kaplan and they said they are not a "qualifying institution". The med school application fees still might be though.

 

[old lady]

Corleone, did you tell H&R Block about your application expenses? I guess you probably did and that's how you know you couldn't deduct them. Unless your income is over $50,000. Then that might be why they weren't deductible.

 

[hannacanna]

i think that you must recieve a form from the person you paid in order to take a deduction. i gave some money to the mspca, they sent me a form. i gave money to my alma mater, they sent me a form. i gave money to my community college, they sent me a form. on the basis of these forms, i am able to take deductions. copies of the forms are sent to the irs, and that's how they can find out that my deductions are legit. no forms to you=no forms to the irs=sketchy looking deduction.

the same thing goes for income--say you pick up a $300 freelance job and they don't give you a form and they don't send one to the irs, you don't have to claim it as income. there's no way to catch you because the irs doesn't have the paperwork.

i'm no tax expert, but i've done my own for years. this is how i do it.

 

[dustinspeer]

Hope credit can be used, but it has a limit. You get 100% credit on the first $1,000 and 50% credit on the next $1,000. The max allowable credit is $1,500. Here's a comparison of the two educational credits:
<img src="http://www.irs.gov/forms_pubs/graphics/25221v22.gif" alt="" />

<a href="http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/display/0,,i1%3D56%26genericId%3D16258,00.html" target="_blank">IRS Tax Topic 605.</a>

Accordint to this article on IRS.gov:
"Expenses that qualify are tuition and fees required for enrollment or attendance at an accredited college, university, vocational school, or other post&#8211;secondary educational institution that is eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the Department of Education.

Qualified expenses do not include room and board, insurance, transportation, or other similar personal, living, or family expenses. Qualified expenses may include fees for books, supplies, and equipment only if the fee must be paid to the school for the student's enrollment or attendance. In addition, qualified expenses may include student activity fees if the fee must be paid to the school for the student's enrollment or attendance."

This wording seems to imply that application fees could be deducted since it is a required expense, although they may only apply for the institution you matriculate at.

 

[dustinspeer]

Okay, let me take back what I just said. I DON'T think they would qualify. <a href="http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/display/0,,i1%3D50%26genericId%3D12955,00.html" target="_blank">Read this:</a>

Qualified tuition and related expenses do not include the cost of:

Insurance,
Medical expenses (including student health fees),
Room and board,
Transportation, or
Similar personal, living, or family expenses.

This is true even if the fee must be paid to the institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance.

 

[lake show]

yeah, i asked h&r block, and i said application costs, and they said no deductions. they didn't explain, and i figured it wasn't an option anyways. reading what the other posters put up, it looks like deductions can happen only during your attendance at the school.

 

[Drako]

I asked my CPA. The answer is "No." BTW, I am too poor to afford a CPA. He is a friend of my uncle, who is very very wealthy and from whom I want to rob an amount of $200,000.

 

[Future_Doc]

Nope - application fees do not qualify. Only expenses necessary for enrollment (and then, some of those are non-deductible). Your application fee is necessary for applying, not enrolling. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

 

[Keith]

my CPA said no.