subject: Applying for Tax Deducation Using Your CPA Certificate [print this page] Applying for Tax Deducation Using Your CPA Certificate
What does it mean to obtain certified public accountant certification? This basically means that he is able to take a four year college course in accounting, and have finished and passed four sections of the exam for certified public accountants with a grade of 75 or higher in a matter of one and a half years. This exam features the following topics: auditing and attesting, financial accounting and reporting, regulation, and business environment and concepts. When one is a certified public accountant, one has obtained 150 hours of related working experience to finally obtain your certification. And, once he gets it, he will be taking accountancy related courses every year to keep it, to serve as a testimony to the fact that certified public accountants need to keep themselves professional and at par with the latest developments related to their profession.
When one has certified public accountant certification, he takes home around 47 thousand to 62 thousand dollars in wages as a beginner, and around 60 thousand to 78 thousand dollars if he advances to senior level. Not bad, right? But here is a question bugging not just aspiring certified public accountants, but those who are already certified public accountants as well: Does certified public accountant certification translate to some potential tax deductions?
There are varied answers to this question. There are people who say "No," for the following reasons:
1. Generally, fees for courses and exams taken in relation to getting a certified public accountant's license are not tax deductible because these are expenses believed to be invested not necessarily for the betterment of a company or business but of someone who is yet to start in the industry.
2. Also, fees for courses and exams taken in relation to getting a certified public accountant's license are considered expenses shelled out to build a new career, not an existing one, so under the law, this is not tax deductible.
3. One cannot also consider this as a cost related to job hunting, because tax officials would surmise that before you could even start hunting for a job, one needs to have credentials first, and certified public accountant certification is a credential.
Indeed, certain taxation provisions indicate that the cost of taking certified public accountant certification, per se, cannot be tax deductible. But still, there are ways to reduce taxes by declaring expenses that are incurred when one is yet in the process of being certified as a public accountant. Here are some tips:
1. The aspiring certified public accountant may get himself employed, and then declare the certification as a means to keep his employment. This way, it will appear that the certification is a means to improve himself as a career person, not just as one starting off in the industry.
2. Or, the aspiring certified public accountant may opt to declare his maths, finance, and economics classes. Accountancy courses per se may not be tax deductible, but these three courses may be considered as courses needed to improve himself, especially while he is on the job.
3. Another option is to subtract the expenses incurred in software and books. The exam in itself is not tax deductible, but the resource materials might be.
