Would tuition to a beauty school qualify?

[allyg01]

The school is a Paul Mitchell beauty school.

[KrisD15]

It APPEARS yes, but do call their financial aid office to verify and you will also need their Federal EIN (Employer Identification Number) to apply for the education credit. 

If they are considered an Eligible educational institution" you may be able to claim the "Lifetime Learning Credit".

The expenses would NOT be eligible to be applied towards the American Opportunity Tax Credit. That credit is only for pursuing a college degree. 

"Financial Aid Leaders are available to assist you at 1-309-451-0400"

LINK

[Hal_Al]

Simple answer: yes beauty school mostly qualify.

Longer answer:  To be eligible for the tuition credits, the course must be taken at "an eligible institution". The school should be able to tell you if it is an eligible educational institution. In general, an eligible educational institution is an accredited college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution, including accredited, public, nonprofit, and proprietary (privately-owned, profit-making) postsecondary institutions. Additionally, in order to be an eligible educational institution, the school must be eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the Department of Education. If they issue a 1098-T they are probably an eligible institution.

Enter your school at the link below, to see if it's on the dept. of education list.

https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home

[damienoh]

My tuition was almost $19000 to a Beauty Barber School and the school is on the list via the link you gave. I didn’t receive any 1098T and haven’t heard back from the school. Is there any other way to go about getting the info needed to get credit if school does not provide it? 

[Hal_Al]

Feb 1 is a little too soon to panic about not having a 1098-T, yet. Many schools not longer mail them out. You get it at your online account at the school.  Otherwise, ask the school why you're not getting a 1098-T.  Any school, on the DOE list, knows about the 1098-T requirement. 

In TurboTax, after stating that you didn't get a 1098-T, it asks if you qualify for an exception.  Answer yes, and it will let you proceed. 

Exception 1098-T exception

 “However, a taxpayer may claim one of these education
benefits if the student doesn’t receive a Form 1098-T because
the student’s educational institution isn’t required to send a
Form 1098-T to the student under existing rules (for example, if
the student is a nonresident alien, has qualified education
expenses paid entirely with scholarships, or has qualified
education expenses paid under a formal billing arrangement). If a
student’s educational institution isn’t required to provide a Form
1098-T to the student, a taxpayer may claim one of these
education benefits without a Form 1098-T if the taxpayer
otherwise qualifies, can demonstrate that the taxpayer (or a
dependent) was enrolled at an eligible educational institution,
and can substantiate the payment of qualified tuition and related
expenses.”  https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8917.pdf

[RalphH1]

It might be possible to do some online searching and establish with certainty that your school meets the “eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Education” requirement (see here). That seems to be the main thing we’re missing at this point in order to take an American Opportunity Credit with complete confidence.

Note that the IRS says in that link that virtually all accredited postsecondary institutions meet this test, but the Paul Mitchell site also allows that financial aid programs can vary among its schools. A 1098 would increase our comfort level with this, but as as Hal_Al noted, that may still be on the way (but we’re also wondering if you can just go online and get it?).

If you end up not receiving or accessing that form, and are otherwise confident (with additional research about the school, or possibly because you have classmates whom you know are receiving Pell Grants…), you can certainly take the credit without a 1098 (as Hal_Al also said, and as discussed here). Saving every piece of documentation (statements from the school, credit card bills, book receipts…) would be very important in that case, as the IRS loves to check on these credits after the tax season dust settles…