You can deduct up to 25% of $1,000, so essentially it’s a $250 credit if you kept your receipts.  So what is deductible?  Here’s the complete list:

The costs of the following items are eligible for the credit:

  • Books: books and other instructional materials used in teaching subjects legally and commonly taught in Iowa’s public elementary and secondary schools, including those needed for extracurricular activities
  • Clothing: “non-street” costumes for a play or special clothing for a concert not suitable for everyday wear, The tax.iowa.gov website states that rental of prom dress or tux falls into this category.
  • Driver’s Education: only if paid to the school
  • Dues, Fees and Admissions: includes those paid for extracurricular activities such as activity fees; booster club dues (student only); fees for track and cross-country; student activity ticket or admission for high school athletic events; fees for a physical education event such as roller skating.
  • Materials: includes materials for extracurricular activities, such as sports, speech activities, musical or dramatic events, awards banquets, homecoming, prom, and other school events (clothing does not qualify)
  • Music: rental of musical instruments for school or band; music/instrument lessons at a school; sheet music used in a school; valve oil; cork grease; music books and reeds used in school bands or orchestras
  • Shop class and mechanics class: cost of required basic materials
  • Shoes: football, soccer and golf shoes; cleats for football shoes; track spike shoes
  • Travel: non-travel fees for field trips (e.g. museum admission) if the trip is during school hours
  • Tuition: the school must be accredited; amounts paid are not allowed if they relate to teaching of religious tenets or doctrines of worship. Tuition paid to religious schools may be pro-rated to cover the non-religious topics. For example, if 6 out of 7 hours of the school day involve non-religious topics, then 6/7 of the total tuition may be counted as an expense eligible for the credit.
  • Uniforms: band, hockey and football uniforms

Talk to us about your specific situation so you don’t miss out on this $250 per child credit.

Todd Green