In a few hours, my children will get up and get dressed for the first day of school. There will be no drama. There will be no “I don’t have anything to wear.” I can say this with a reasonable amount of certainty because, as students who attend public school in Philadelphia, my children will be dressed in school uniforms.
As a mom, I love school uniforms. They’re easy and predictable. What they aren’t is cheap. They’re also not in great demand for wear outside of school which means that they serve one purpose only. So that feels like an expense that should be deductible, right?
Nope. The IRS does not allow deductions for school uniforms, even if required, for public, parochial or private schools.
The rules are a wee bit different at military school. If you are a student at an armed forces academy, you cannot deduct the cost of your uniforms – that’s consistent with the rules for public, parochial and private schools. However, you do get something of a break at military school in that you can deduct the cost of insignia, shoulder boards, and related items. Faculty and staff get a bigger break: under the rules, you can deduct the cost of your uniforms if you are a civilian faculty or staff member of a military school.
You can save a few tax dollars if you use funds that you’ve invested in an Educational Savings Account (“ESA”) to buy school uniforms. Uniforms are considered “qualified education expenses” for purposes of an ESA which means that withdrawals to buy them are tax free. Unlike an IRA, an ESA contribution is not deductible for federal purposes (though some states will allow you to deduct contributions for state purposes). I’ll be doing a follow up post on ESAs later in the week – keep watching for more information.
Of course, one of the things that kids (and parents) worry about when it comes to uniforms is that they might lose their sense of individuality. Not so. My kids love to accessorize their uniforms (you should see some of the things my 7 year old fashionista comes up with)… and that’s where our first giveaway of the week comes in!
One taxgirl® reader will win a Pretty Woman Airbrushed Nail Kit. It’s bling for your nails. Hollywood’s hottest celebrities like Katy Perry, Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Blake Lively are making nail art a style statement all its own. Pretty Woman’s nail kits are available in fashion forward designs and colors: in minutes, you can have a professional manicure that lasts for days.
Three additional taxgirl® readers will each win a cute pair of Converse shoes from Famous Footwear, a leading back-to-school destination currently offering its BOGO shoe sale. After you’re done browsing my site, pop over to Facebook: Famous is also offering students an opportunity to win $75,000 for their school and $25,000 for themselves by entering the Step It Up Facebook Contest at facebook.com/FamousFootwear.
To enter to win the nail kit or a pair of shoes, just post a comment below telling me about your favorite back-to-school clothing or uniform accessory.
I’ll choose the winners randomly (using a number generator) out of all of the qualifying entries.
Here are some more rules because, as you know, I’m a lawyer and I like rules:
- Entries must be posted in the comments section for this blog post in the space below by 4:59 p.m. EST on September 6, 2011 – yes, that’s today.
- Don’t panic if your comment doesn’t show immediately. If it goes to moderation because, for example, you’re new here, the time stamp on your comment is what counts.
- I love my Twitter followers and my Facebook fans but for this particular giveaway, tweets and Facebook comments will not be counted. Ditto for emails. You must leave your comment on the blog at this post.
- You can enter as many times as you like but you must leave a different answer each time you comment.
- Offensive comments or comments that otherwise violate the comment policy will be deleted and will not be considered valid for purposes of the contest.
- Pingbacks and other links will be disregarded for purposes of the contest.
- You must include your full name and your email address with your entry, just enter it when you register to comment. I won’t publish your email address but I do need contact information for the winning entry.
- Due to shipping considerations, only United States addresses, please. Sorry, Canada, eh?
- I respect your privacy and I will not send you anything unrelated to your entry in this contest. By entering the contest, you agree that I may post any part or all of your submission including your name as a part of the contest announcements or promotions, with the exception of your email address.
Comment away!