Job-Related Expense Deduction for Externship

[ddranalli]

I performed an Externship as a Veterinary Student Doctor while in Graduate school.  I received a small stipend to offset travel expenses to the location.  Can I claim the air travel, car rental, meals, etc. minus the stipend as a job-related expense?  

[PatriciaV]

In general, job-related expenses are not deductible from income. That deduction was suspended with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Since you had no educational expenses, all of the stipend would be taxable income. 

[ddranalli]

Since I was required to do an Externship as part of my Graduate study, can I deduct the Travel & Lodging expenses minus the small Stipend as an Education Expense?

[Vanessa A]

No.  Travel and lodging are never considered education expenses.

Expenses that do not qualify

Even if you pay the following expenses to enroll or attend the school, the following are not qualified education expenses:

• Room and board
• Insurance
• Medical expenses (including student health fees)
• Transportation
• Similar personal, living or family expenses

[ddranalli]

I was not paid a Wage/Salary for the Externship, i.e. I did not receive paychecks or a W-2, and the organization is an IRS verified 501(c)(3).  I was only given a stipend to partially offset travel expense.  Can I claim the remaining Travel expense as a Charitable Contribution under 'miles traveled to volunteer'?

[Vanessa A]

Probably not.  If you are doing an unpaid externship as part of your schooling this would be considered a personal expense, not volunteer work.  So the unreimbursed amounts would not be deductible.   

If you donated additional time, outside of your externship, then yes, you would be able to deduct as a Charitable expense,  In order to claim these miles, you would need to itemize your return instead of taking the standard deduction.  Volunteer miles are $.14 a mile. 

Itemized expenses include mortgage interest, gambling losses up to 90% or up to winnings (whichever is less),  charitable contributions, state and local taxes up to $10,000, medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your AGI and casualty and losses (for federally declared disaster areas) in excess of 10% of you AGI with the first $100 not counting towards the loss.  Your health insurance and all medical expenses are only deductible for the amount that is over 7.5% of your AGI.  This means if your AGI is $50,000, then the amount that is over $3,750 is deductible.  

Then your total itemized expenses would need to be greater than your standard deduction below in order to benefit from your expenses. 

The 2025 Standard Deductions are as follows:

• Married Filing Joint (MFJ)              $31,500
• Married Filing Separate (MFS)      $15,750
• Head of Household (HOH)             $23,675 
• Single                                                 $15,750                                

Blind or over 65 and MFJ or MFS add $1,600

Single or HOH if blind or over 65 add $2.000