Hi @Hal_Al, I appreciate your response but.... I don't think you've got the latest information. :(
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Here's a link to the current IRS publication that discusses it: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b
Titled: Publication 15-B (2020)
Here's the relevant excerpt I think you must not be familiar with:
Assistance over $5,250.
If you don't have an educational assistance plan, or you provide an employee with assistance exceeding $5,250, you must include the value of these benefits as wages, unless the benefits are working condition benefits. Working condition benefits may be excluded from wages. Property or a service provided is a working condition benefit to the extent that if the employee paid for it, the amount paid would have been allowable as a business or depreciation expense. See Working Condition Benefits , later in this section.
Education.
Certain job-related education you provide to an employee may qualify for exclusion as a working condition benefit. To qualify, the education must meet the same requirements that would apply for determining whether the employee could deduct the expenses had the employee paid the expenses. Degree programs as a whole don't necessarily qualify as a working condition benefit. Each course in the program must be evaluated individually for qualification as a working condition benefit. The education must meet at least one of the following tests.
The education is required by the employer or by law for the employee to keep his or her present salary, status, or job. The required education must serve a bona fide business purpose of the employer.
The education maintains or improves skills needed in the job.
However, even if the education meets one or both of the above tests, it isn't qualifying education if it:
Is needed to meet the minimum educational requirements of the employee's present trade or business, or
Is part of a program of study that will qualify the employee for a new trade or business.
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In my case, I do meet the requirements based on my employer and degree program's individual courses.
Having read this new information, any other thoughts to share?
