Can I claim utility expenses as room and board deduction for college?

[Carl]

Room & Board are not a qualified education expense. But is this for something like a Coverdell or 529 plan maybe?

[shanpitts03]

Yes

[Carl]

It would depend. There are limits for what amount can be used for room & board from a 529 plan. Basically, if living on campus or in facilities owned by the college and you are paying the college for your room and board, that payment would already include utilities. So for the sake of comparison, lets say you pay $600 a month for this.

If you choose to live off campus, then the deductible amount of room and board expenses is limited to what it would be if you lived on campus. So if your off campus rent is $550 a month and the electric bill is $100, you can only claim $600 since that's the most you would pay for room, board and utilities if you lived on campus.

You can read a plain English explanation of this at http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/08/20/know-what-you-c... which references the IRS pubs which are written in legaleze.