Are College Room And Board Expenses Tax Deductible

Even if you pay the following expenses to enroll or attend the school the following are not qualified education expenses.

Are college room and board expenses tax deductible.

Educational tax benefits don t include room and board meaning the cost of housing and food while attending school. Room and board usually isn t considered a qualified education expense for the purpose of education credits. Medical expenses including student health fees transportation. They do this by reducing the amount of tax someone owes on their tax return.

This means that most costs associated with a dorm room including room. Check out the list below. If you are claiming the american opportunity credit or lifetime learning credit for purposes of determining how much of your scholarship and fellowship income is tax free excluding bond interest when cashed in under an education savings bond program. Tuition and fees are tax deductible if you re re filing your 2017 taxes.

For example if you had a scholarship that covered all of your tuition but you had to take out a loan to cover room and board the interest you pay on that loan is still tax deductible. If the credit reduces tax to less than zero the taxpayer may get a refund. Qualified education expenses include tuition and other fees that students are obligated to pay in order to attend a particular institution. Expenses covered under the deduction include anything related to coursework including tuition books supplies and equipment that must be paid to the school as a condition of enrollment.

Unlike the other tax breaks qualifying expenses includes not only tuition and fees but also room and board. Given the tax changes in recent years it s important to check which college expenses are tax deductible or allow you to take a credit and which expenses no longer qualify. For tax years after 2017 however the provision that allowed you to directly deduct these items has expired. In that case the cost can be deducted from the taxable portion of the plan s distribution.

But you can t deduct expenses that you paid for with a scholarship or another tax free award. Taxpayers who pay for higher education in 2019 can see these tax savings when they file their tax returns next year. Room and board are not considered a qualifying education expense in the following situations. The one exception is if room and board was paid for with a coverdell esa or 529 plan distribution.

Only expenses that are mandatory and paid directly to a college or university are eligible for the tuition and fees deduction.