'17 tax planning 15+yr customer Q-Son is 25 and graduate student. Can I deduct school supplies that I paid for= $11,000

[SweetieJean]

Doe son have any income? Scholarships or grants?
What type of supplies cost that much?

[1laketahoe]

Minal $ partime job thru 4/1. No sch/grtsdsf, jst loans.  Dental schoo lab supplies/computer/books.

[Hal_Al]

lab supplies/computer/books are considered qualified expenses for the education credit or deduction.
School loans are not considered income for  the $4050 income test. However school loans are considered support not provided by you for the support test (unless you co-signed the loans).

To claim him as a dependent, you must have provided more than 1/2 his support. The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf"...> The support value of a home is the fair market rental value, divided by the number of occupants.

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

For you to deduct educational expenses, the student must qualify as your dependent. For a child/student over age 23, this means he must meet the income test as well as the support test. 

If he had more than $4050 of income, including taxable scholarships, he cannot be your dependent and your cannot use his school expenses to claim a credit or deduction.

If he does qualify as your dependent, only tuition, fees and course materials (books and other stuff REQUIRED for attendance)  qualify as expenses. So, it depends on the details of "school supplies that I paid for"