Qualifying Expenses

Most expenses for educational instruction or materials qualify if they’re required for the normal school day – that is, for subjects normally taught in public school grades K-12. These expenses include:

• Textbooks and other instructional materials used in subjects normally taught in public school grades K-12. This can include paper, pens, pencils, notebooks, rulers, and special supplies needed for shop, home economics, or art class. See “Expenses That Don’t Qualify” for exceptions, such as religious textbooks or materials used in extracurricular activities.
• Instructional fees paid for field trips taken during the normal school day, including local transportation costs paid to others and entrance fees to exhibits.
• Rental or purchase of educational equipment required for classes during the normal school day, such as musical instruments and calculators.
• Home school. Expenses for home schooling of children may qualify for the credit or subtraction if they’re for supplies and materials for subjects taught during the normal public school day. They may not be primarily religious in nature.

For more information what qualifies and what does not qualify, see Income Tax Fact Sheet 8a - Qualifying Home School Expenses for K-12 Education Subtraction and Credit.

These expenses qualify for the subtraction only:

• Tuition for private schools.
• Tuition for college courses that satisfy high school graduation requirements.
• Tuition for summer school courses used to satisfy high school graduation requirements.

Expenses paid for summer school classes to fulfill school-year class requirements qualify. They must meet the same requirements as “normal school day” expenses, as outlined above.

You may claim instructor fees paid for driver’s education if the school your child attends offers driver’s education as part of its curriculum, no matter where your child takes the classes.

Computer hardware and software you bought for your children to use at home to learn about academic subjects are qualifying expenses, as long as you do not also use the computer in a trade or business.

You may only claim computer and software expenses up to $200 for the credit and $200 for the subtraction. You cannot claim more than $400 in total computer expenses, even if you spent more on these items during the year.

You claim educational expenses for the year when you paid for the materials or services, which may be different from the year you received them. It depends how you paid for them:

• If you bought an educational service or product using a third-party loan – such as from a bank, or with a credit card – claim the expenses for the year of purchase. (This is true even if you do not repay the loan until a later year.)
• If you used credit provided by a retail seller for the purchase – such as a payment plan from a computer or music store – claim the expenses for years you actually make payments to the seller.

Example: You bought a musical instrument on store credit in September and make 10 monthly payments of $50 each ($500 total). You claim four payments ($200) as educational expense for the current year, and claim the remaining six payments ($300) for the next year. If you bought the same instrument with a bank loan or a credit card, you may claim the full amount ($500) for the current year.