Nurse Outduels IRS Over M.B.A. Tuition

Wall Street Journal/Yahoo ^ | 1-11-10 | Laura Saunders

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How One Woman Went to Tax Court and Won Deduction

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A Maryland nurse accomplished two rare feats in her battle with the Internal Revenue Service: She defended herself against the agency's lawyers and won, and she got a ruling that could help tens of thousands of students deduct the cost of an M.B.A. degree on their taxes.

The U.S. Tax Court handed Lori Singleton-Clarke her victory last month, saying the 47-year-old Bryantown, Md., woman had properly deducted nearly $15,000 in business school tuition. The Tax Court ruling should make it easier for many other professionals to deduct the expense of a Master in Business Administration degree.

After getting word of the court decision, "I nearly yelled the roof off the house," Ms. Singleton-Clarke says. "I still can hardly believe it."

The IRS's rules on deducting work-related tuition are complicated and onerous, ultimately preventing most students from deducting their tuition. But this case clarifies the rules and will likely lead to more taxpayers taking the deduction, tax experts say.

[Vigilanteman]

Give me access to all your finanancial records and I guarantee I could turn you into a tax cheat if I wanted to. And even if I couldn't, I could drag you through an audit process which would cost you so much time and money, you would be willing to pay a settlement to make it go away.

You need to get Hansen's book and read it. And, yes, the IRS targets people because of their politics. Hansen was the most prominent Republican example. Former Senator Joseph Montoya of New Mexico is a Democrat example.