Can you deduct room and board

Know what dependents credits and deductions you can claim Get started. Know what tax documents you'll need upfront Get started. Learn what education credits and deductions you qualify for and claim them on your tax return Get started. The above article is intended to provide generalized financial information designed to educate a broad segment of the public; it does not give personalized tax, investment, legal, or other business and professional advice.

Skip To Main Content. When can I take this deduction? You can deduct qualifying expenses paid for: Education during in the year, or Education that begins during the year, or Education that begins during the first three months of the following year.

Which expenses qualify? You cannot take a deduction for: Room and board, optional fees such as for student health insurance , transportation, or other similar personal expenses.

Course-related books and supplies, unless you are required to buy them directly from the school. Some expenses associated with a student's dorm room are eligible for tax deductions that parents can claim. These include technology costs that the college or university requires all students to pay. For example, a student's dorm room computer qualifies as an education expense if the school requires the student or parents to purchase it.

Parents can write off a portion of a child's dorm room costs indirectly by claiming a student loan interest deduction. This is possible only if the parents take out a student loan for their child and use the funds from the loan to pay for room and board, dorm furnishings and other related expenses.

At the center of everything we do is a strong commitment to independent research and sharing its profitable discoveries with investors. This dedication to giving investors a trading advantage led to the creation of our proven Zacks Rank stock-rating system. The loan may only apply to a student who is enrolled at least half-time in a degree program. The student must be you, your spouse, or your dependent. Qualified expenses for the Student Loan Interest Deduction are the total costs of attending an eligible educational institution including graduate school.

An eligible educational institution is a school offering higher education beyond high school. It is any college, university, trade school, or other post secondary educational institution eligible to participate in a student aid program run by the U. Department of Education. This includes most accredited public, nonprofit, and privately-owned—for-profit postsecondary institutions. If you are not sure if your school qualifies, you can ask or see if your school is listed here.

Simply start a tax return on eFile. If you take the Tuition and Fees Deduction and you have also paid interest on student loans, you may be able to take the Student Loan Interest Deduction as well. The Tuition and Fees Deduction is an above-the-line deduction, so you do not need to itemize to claim it on your Tax Return.

Why worry about figuring out if you qualify or not? When you prepare your Taxes with eFile. However, if you want to learn more, here's how much the student tuition deduction could be worth:.

Only the expenses paid during the year qualify for the Tuition and Fees Deduction. Like other federal education tax benefits, there is no double-dipping with the Tuition and Fees Deduction.

When calculating total qualified higher education expenses for the Tuition and Fees Deduction, taxpayers must subtract any expenses that were used to justify other income tax benefits, including:. Taxpayers who take a plan distribution should receive an IRS Form Q from the plan administrator. Form Q lists the total amount of the distribution, the earnings portion and the basis contribution portion. Some college expenses, such as computers and room and board, are considered qualified plan expenses for the AOTC but cannot be used to justify the Tuition and Fees Deduction.