Tuition assistance and tax write-off question

[jeromedawg]

Hey guys,

Some of you may have stumbled across my other thread where my former employee has demanded that I pay back tuition assistance after having left the company within a year of taking the course. I was reimbursed back in August and left the company end of December. So if I end up paying them back for it, would I be able to write this off as an expense for 2015? Or would I need to write it off for 2016? And if the former, is there anything specific I should know or account for when filing for 2015?

TIA!

[DevoCPA]

your 1098-T is for 2015 so I would just take it in 2015

[MDM]

Based on a quick read of https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch11.html, and assuming the amount is under $5250, it seems
 - for 2015, ignore the amount completely for IRS purposes: you didn't pay it so you can't use it toward a deduction/credit, and it is low enough that you can exclude it from income.
 - for 2016, because that is when you have actually paid the money, you could use that amount in calculating whatever educational deduction/credit applies.