Tax Write Offs for Certifications

JasonX

Hi All,

I tried searching and received various answers. However, would we be able to writeoff the costs for exams and affiliated training (ie Bootcamps)?

I'm looking at what I have spent this year, and the additional exams I want to take, and it'd be nice to reduce my taxable income.

dave330i

It depends on your AGI. Higher your AGI, more money you need to spend on book/hardware/training, etc.

JasonX

Never heard this one before... so your education deductions are capped dependent on income?

RouteThisWay

See if this helps:

Publication 970 (2011), Tax Benefits for Education

I am by no means a tax expert though

paul78

Certifications usually are not tax deductable. You may want to consult with a qualified tax accountant which I am not

Iristheangel

I contract and consult on the side so I write off technological expenses, certifications, books, study materials, etc as business expenses. Of course any income that I make on the side stuff I have to pay taxes on but in the end, I usually save tons of money

ptilsen

I believe they can be claimed as a business expense as Iris mentioned. I would consult a qualified accountant on that, though, as it might not be universally applicable to those of us who do side work.

Certifications cannot be used as educational write-offs unless they are part of an actual program from an actual educational institution (as described in Publication 970, which RTW linked). If a school required you to take and pay for a certification as part of a degree program, that would qualify.