Can I include laptop/desktop as a Education expense?

mlucero1017 · ‎June 4, 2019

I took 4 online classes and 1 class on the university campus. The 1 class i took on campus was heavily reliant on Blackboard. I originally bought a secondhand desktop computer to use to to access the classes and do work on but a month into the semester that I wasn't even spending enough time at home since I was at work almost 10 hours of the day. I ended up buying a second hand laptop so I can do some homework while I was at work.

The thing is, I did get a grant that covered tuition and the required textbooks so I bought the laptop and desktop out of pocket.

Can I count the laptop and desktop as education expenses?

LinaJ2018 · ‎June 4, 2019

Yes, you can deduct expenses spent on both the laptop and desktop as educational expenses ONLY IF you are REQUIRED to purchase them for your classes. By law, there are no limitations on how many computers you are allowed to have in order to deduct. In your situation, as long as its within reasonable cause and your online classes required you to have a computer (s) , you can deduct your out of pocket expenses on the equipment(s) you bought for attendance.

Please also see below for reference:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3301377

emcmusic · ‎April 20, 2021

Where on the turbo tax form do you input the information for the laptop you want to claim? I can't find an appropriate section for it.

Hal_Al · ‎April 20, 2021

Any yes when asked if you have any book expenses. That gets you the screen to enter computer expense.

If you missed it, Go through the entire education interview until you reach a screen titled "Your Education Expenses Summary". Click edit next to the student's name. That should take you to a screen “Here’s your Education Summary”. Click edit next "Other education expenses"