One of the most popular questions I see around this time of year is whether you can deduct the cost of:
- school uniforms for public, private or parochial school
- band uniforms and instruments
- athletic team uniforms
- school supplies
- field trips
- fill-in-the-blank school expense that is sucking money out of my wallet
The short answer is no. These expenses are considered personal expenses and are not deductible for federal income tax purposes for students in elementary and high school (I’ll address college and work-related educational expenses later).
There are some ways to mitigate some of these expenses – like participation in a section 529 plan. Check in later in the day to find out more.
Interesting tidbit: Arizona offers some school related tax credits for some extracurricular activities.
http://www.revenue.state.az.us/brochure/707.pdf
Also – I have to wonder if some of these expenditures might qualify as “out-of-pocket volunteer expenses”.
Don’t feel to bad about school uniforms not being tax deductible, painter whites art ether and they have to wear them too.
Thank you so much for your help. I had looked every where to get some answers about my kids private school deductions. The IRS site WOW I think you need to have your PHD in Accounting to understand that site. As I see though I really can’t deduct any of the things I was wondering about. Sure would be nice if we could… Their school is a costly choice but worth it. Your site was easy and understandable. Thank you again will be using it again.
Glad I could help, thanks for the kind words!