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Sussan & Greenwald
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Practice limited to special education and related matters
IS TUITION DEDUCTIBLE?
"If your child is diagnosed as ADD and cannot function in a public school setting and must be sent to a private school, can the cost of the private school be deducted from your taxes?"
This is the question that many parents ask, particularly due to the high costs involved in sending their children to private schools. The same question has been asked and answered by the Internal Revenue. According to the IRS, "The expense would not be deductible as an education expense. The facts and circumstances will determine if the cost of the private school qualifies as a medical expense." Referring to Publication 502, the IRS states:
Learning Disability. You can include in medical expenses tuition fees you pay to a special school for a child who has severe learning disabilities caused by mental or physical impairments, including nervous system disorders. Your doctor must recommend that the child attend the school. (See Schools and Education, Special, later).
You can also include tutoring fees you pay on your doctor's recommendation for the child's tutoring by a teacher who is specially trained and qualified to work with children who have severe learning disabilities....
Schools and Education, Special. You can include in medical expenses payments to a special school for a mentally impaired or physically disabled person if the main reason for using the school is its resources for relieving the disability. You can include, for example, the cost of:
- Teaching Braille to a visually impaired child,
- Teaching lip reading to a hearing impaired child, or
- Giving remedial language training to correct a condition caused by a birth defect.
The cost of meals, lodging, and ordinary education supplied by a special school can be included in medical expenses only if the main reason for the child's being there is the resources the school has for relieving the mental or physical disability.
You cannot include in medical expenses the cost of sending a problem child to a special school for benefits the child may get from the course of study and the disciplinary methods.
More information can be found within Publication 502
Also note that in discussing the deductibility of legal fees, Publication 502 states: "You can include in medical expenses legal fees you paid that are necessary to authorize treatment for mental illness. However, you cannot include in medical expenses fees for the management of a guardianship estate, fees for conducting the affairs of the person being treated, or other fees that are not necessary for medical care."
N.B. [CCH Dec.52,596(M)]Steven A. Lenn and Ksenia Lenn v. Commissioner . (Docket No. 3981-96. Filed February 26, 1998). Petitioners of a disabled son lost a due process hearing seeking tuition reimbursement for a residential placement. Petitioners were allowed by IRS to deduct the private tuition costs as "medical expenses," to the extent allowable under Section 213 of the Internal Revenue Code. The Commissioner, however, disallowed Petitioner's efforts to deduct, as Section 213 "medical expenses", the legal expenses incurred in the lawsuit, on the grounds that the unsuccessful lawsuit was "not necessary" for the child to attend the school.
Internal Revenue Service
Revenue Ruling
Rev. Rul. 78-340
1978-2 C.B. 124
Sec. 213
IRS Headnote
Medical expenses; tuition or tutoring fees. A taxpayer whose child has severe learning disabilities caused by a neurological disorder may deduct as a medical expense amounts paid upon recommendation of the child's doctor for tuition fees for the child's education at a special school that has a program designed to educate children with such disabilities so that they can return to a regular school within a few years. If recommended by the doctor, amounts paid for the child's tutoring by a teacher specially trained and qualified to deal with severe learning disabilities may also be deducted.
Full Text
Rev. Rul. 78-340
A taxpayer is the parent of a minor child who has been diagnosed as having severe learning disabilities. The symptoms include congenital impairment in the areas of visual memory and visual matching. As a result, the child has great difficulty learning to read. Competent medical authorities who have examined the child have determined that the learning disabilities are caused by a neurological disorder. The child's doctor recommended that the child attend a special school, as defined in section 1.213-1(e)(1)(v)(a) of the Income Tax Regulations, that has a program designed to educate children with severe learning disabilities so that they can return to a regular school within a few years. The taxpayer placed the child in the special school and paid the tuition fees.
Held, amounts paid by the taxpayer for tuition fees for the child's education at the special school are expenses for the child's medical care and are deductible by the taxpayer in the manner and to the extent provided by section 213 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.
This holding would also apply to amounts paid by the same taxpayer for the child's tutoring by a teacher who is specially trained and qualified to deal with severe learning disabilities provided the child's doctor recommended such tutoring.
Compare Rev. Rul. 69-607, 1969-2 C.B. 40, which holds that amounts paid by a taxpayer for language training for a child to correct a condition caused by congenital damage to the brain are amounts paid for medical care under section 213 of the Code.
Also see:
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This information should be shared with your tax advisor in order to determine the deductibility of your expenses.
Phone: 732-238-0900 620 Cranbury Road
Suite 212
Fax: 732-238-0970 East Brunswick, N.J. 08816
The information presented herein is intended to be informational, and not legal advice. Obtain competent legal representation for your particular matter. See full disclaimer.
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