Travel deductions

[jmartinez8404]

I'm currently a medical student with no income, but my wife works full-time. A voluntary part of enhancing my education is to attend medical conferences to learn more about the field, networking, etc. Would I be able to deducts my conference fees and travel expenses off of my wife's income? And is there a deductible limit I need to reach for these types of deductions (travel/business), like the standard deduction for personal expenses?

[MargaretL · Accepted solution]

You cannot deduct your travel expenses, unfortunately.  They are not considered qualified education expenses for educations tax purposes and they cannot be considered job-related expenses, since you are a student and the education is, as you stated, voluntary.  The expenses cannot be taken off of your wife's W-2 income, either.