Tax Deduction

[bluebooger]

Have any of us been able to deduce tax on SL, Study.com, etc. expenses? Would you please mind explaining the steps if so?

You can't, as they aren't schools.  You can only deduct tuition, so it must be at a school, not a course provider.

"Education expenses are only tax deductible for postsecondary tuition and associated fees. This would include community colleges, universities, trade or vocational schools and pretty much any other accredited education program following high school." 

that only applies if you gt audited

[davewill]

that only applies if you gt audited

If you claim the credits without a 1098-T, you can bet they'll look at it.

[bluebooger]

that only applies if you gt audited

If you claim the credits without a 1098-T, you can bet they'll look at it.

I can print those up on my computer

[mudball]

Tax forms are sent from the employer or institution to the individual and to the IRS(usually electronically). The IRS matches records from what is sent to them from the employer or institution, not a paper form you can print out. Winners never cheat.

[davewill]

that only applies if you gt audited

If you claim the credits without a 1098-T, you can bet they'll look at it.

I can print those up on my computer

Sure, you go ahead and do that... 

[dfrecore]

Have any of us been able to deduce tax on SL, Study.com, etc. expenses? Would you please mind explaining the steps if so?

You can't, as they aren't schools.  You can only deduct tuition, so it must be at a school, not a course provider.

"Education expenses are only tax deductible for postsecondary tuition and associated fees. This would include community colleges, universities, trade or vocational schools and pretty much any other accredited education program following high school." 

that only applies if you gt audited

Yikes! Are you telling people to cheat on their taxes here on this forum?  I don't think that's a very ethical thing to do.  You should probably retract, at the very least.

[jamshid666]

Tax forms are sent from the employer or institution to the individual and to the IRS(usually electronically). The IRS matches records from what is sent to them from the employer or institution, not a paper form you can print out. Winners never cheat.

Except for the New England Patriots, they cheat all the time.

[videogamesrock]

You need to go about this a little differently. Get a letter from your employer that says they encourage you to take courses for your profession.

You may be able to deduct work-related education expenses paid during the year as an itemized deduction on Form 1040, Schedule A (PDF), Itemized Deductions. To be deductible, your expenses must be for education that (1) maintains or improves your job skills or (2) that your employer or a law requires to keep your salary, status, or job. However, even if the education meets either of these tests, the education can't be part of a program that will qualify you for a new trade or business or that you need to meet the minimal educational requirements of your trade or business.

The other option is for business owners to have the business pay for it as training expense and write it off as a misc expense.

[dfrecore]

You need to go about this a little differently. Get a letter from your employer that says they encourage you to take courses for your profession.

You may be able to deduct work-related education expenses paid during the year as an itemized deduction on Form 1040, Schedule A (PDF), Itemized Deductions. To be deductible, your expenses must be for education that (1) maintains or improves your job skills or (2) that your employer or a law requires to keep your salary, status, or job. However, even if the education meets either of these tests, the education can't be part of a program that will qualify you for a new trade or business or that you need to meet the minimal educational requirements of your trade or business.

The other option is for business owners to have the business pay for it as training expense and write it off as a misc expense.

This is not a bad idea.  BUT, it really does have to be in your field.  So taking Study.com courses to go towards Gen Ed's to get your degree in Business, even if you worked in an office, would not count.  It could ONLY be courses that were in your field, and very closely related.  So if you worked as an HR Generalist, you could take any number of HR courses, but Accounting or Marketing probably wouldn't count.  If you worked as a General Clerical person, you could probably couldn't write off a programming course.  Things like that.  You really do have to show that it maintains or improves your job skills, and that could be difficult to do.

Always remember that when you start taking deductions, and you don't have anything to back it up, that may trigger an audit.  Anything that's out of the ordinary in general, out of the ordinary for you personally, something that doesn't match the forms that have been sent in, etc.  Your chances of getting audited for deducting home office expenses, for instance, are SUBSTANTIALLY higher than the average person because so many people cheat on this.

[videogamesrock]

They Could also get a letter that says we would prefer that you complete a bachelors degree. That should really help satisfy those requirements.

And I agree with the home office. Filing extensions substantially reduced the risk of audit also.