Unless your son has a profitable bona fide business (e.g., raising and selling livestock as part of a 4-H project), the expenses for his 4-H project are probably considered “hobby” expenses for tax purposes and would not be deductible. If, as a parent of a 4-H’er, you’ve become a volunteer leader, you may be able to deduct certain expenses as a volunteer.
See IRS Publication 17 for details: www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf.
If you have income from the project, then you can deduct the expenses against the income to arrive at net income.
