Can school tuition for a Doctoral in Counseling and AS in Accounting qualify for the Business Education Deduction?

Great questions about education deductions! The rules for business education deductions can be tricky, but I can help clarify. For your wife's Doctoral in Counseling: Since she already has her Masters and is established in her counseling practice, her doctoral education would likely qualify as an ordinary and necessary business expense. The key is that she's not qualifying for a new profession but enhancing her existing skills in her current business. She should be able to deduct the tuition as a business expense on her Schedule C. For your AS in Accounting: This is more complicated. If accounting is considered a different field from your mobile detailing business, the IRS might view this as education qualifying you for a new trade or profession (accounting), which wouldn't be deductible. However, if you can clearly document how the accounting courses directly maintain or improve skills needed in your current business, you might have a case. Your wife likely cannot deduct your education expenses for her business unless you're an actual employee of her LLC.

I was in a similar situation last year with my therapy practice and going back for additional certification. I found this amazing site that helped me figure out exactly what education expenses I could deduct - https://taxr.ai really saved me thousands! I uploaded my tuition statements and business information, and it analyzed everything to show exactly what qualified as a legitimate business deduction. It even explained the difference between education that "maintains or improves skills" versus education that "qualifies you for a new trade" which is super important for your situations. For your wife, it looks pretty clear she can deduct those doctoral expenses, but for your accounting degree, the analysis would help determine if it meets the criteria.

I was super skeptical about taxr.ai when I saw it mentioned here, but I decided to try it for my situation (music teacher deducting a master's degree). Honestly, it was incredibly helpful! The analysis showed me that I could deduct about 70% of my education expenses because they directly related to my current teaching business, but some specialized courses wouldn't qualify. The documentation it provided gave me the confidence to take the deductions I was entitled to without overreaching. For the original poster, I think this would really help clarify both situations - especially for the accounting degree which seems to be in that gray area. It saved me way more than I expected and prevented what would have been some costly mistakes.

After reading your post, I instantly thought of my experience trying to reach the IRS about education deductions last year. Spent DAYS trying to get through on the phone for clarification about my business education deductions. Finally discovered https://claimyr.com which got me through to an actual IRS agent in under 45 minutes instead of the weeks I was trying on my own. Check out how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with clarified that for situations like your wife's, where she's already established in her profession and seeking additional education in the same field, it's generally deductible. For your accounting degree, they explained the specific documentation needed to prove it improves skills in your current business rather than qualifying you for a new profession.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I tried the Claimyr service after posting my skeptical comment, and it actually worked. I've been trying to reach the IRS for THREE WEEKS about my own education deduction question. Used the service yesterday afternoon, and within 35 minutes I was talking to an actual IRS representative who walked me through the exact requirements for business education deductions. They confirmed that maintaining or improving skills in your existing trade or business is deductible, but qualifying for a new trade or profession isn't. For the original poster: The agent told me your wife's doctoral program sounds clearly deductible since she's already established in counseling. For your accounting degree, they suggested keeping detailed documentation showing how the courses directly relate to your current business responsibilities. Still can't believe I actually got through to a human at the IRS!

I went through something almost identical with my photography business last year. One thing to watch out for - make sure the courses don't qualify you for a "new trade or business." This is the IRS's main test. For your wife, she's already a counselor, so getting a doctorate in counseling is enhancing her existing profession. That should be deductible. For your accounting degree, it's trickier. If the degree would qualify you to become an accountant (a new profession), the IRS might disallow it even if you're using the knowledge in your current business. I tried to deduct my digital marketing courses for my photography business and got denied because they said it could qualify me for a marketing career. Keep really good documentation of how each course directly improves your current business skills!

Has anyone here used a specific tax form for education expenses as a business deduction? I'm trying to figure out if these go on Schedule C or if there's another form I'm missing.

I've been dealing with similar education deduction questions for my consulting business. One thing I learned that might help - the IRS has a specific test called the "minimum education requirement" test. If the education is required to meet the minimum requirements of your current business, it's generally not deductible. For your wife's doctoral program, since she already meets the minimum requirements to practice counseling with her Masters, the additional doctorate should qualify as maintaining/improving existing skills rather than meeting minimum requirements. For your accounting degree, the key question is whether you already perform accounting functions in your detailing business. If you're already doing bookkeeping, financial planning, tax prep for the business, then the formal education could be seen as improving those existing skills. But if you're not currently doing significant accounting work, it might be viewed as qualifying you for new responsibilities. I'd recommend documenting exactly what financial/accounting tasks you currently handle for your business before starting the program. This creates a paper trail showing the education improves existing duties rather than preparing you for entirely new ones.