Claiming rent as expense for summer internship

[vvk4]

Greetings, This past summer my college son did summer internship for 2.5 months out of state. He received 1099 NEC.  He rented apartment that costed $4500 for the duration of the internship. He also had to buy flight tickets. Can he claim any of these expenses in federal taxes?

[xmasbaby0]

Sorry....no.   Travel is not a qualified education expense, nor is the rent.

[vvk4]

To clarify the Summer internship was "Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship" - 

[KrisD15]

None of the expenses qualify as education expenses, however if the payment was made on Form 1099-NEC, they are treating the student as a self-employed subcontractor.  (Normally Fellowships are reported on a W-2 or possible 1099-MISC.)

Since the payment is on Form 1099-NEC, the student will need to report that as Self-Employment income. 

This will require Schedule C be included with his return. 

With this said, he will be able to deduct business expenses that are necessary and reasonable.

If there is self-employment income, there will also be Self-Employment tax on that income which is the FICA an employer usually handles. 

HERE is an IRS link to help you decide which expenses can be claimed.