4 ms·

You definitely have to watch the fine print with these things. During my first professional job, I didn't have any degrees (I still don't, but I used to not, al

You definitely have to watch the fine print with these things. During my first professional job, I didn't have any degrees (I still don't, but I used to not, also) my employer offered "tuition reimbursement". The stipulation was that the class had to be job related. Not the degree, but the class. So I ended up having to take VB6 (yes, this was 20 years ago) as an elective, since that's what I did at my job (and already knew how to do - I'm not exaggerating when I said I learned nothing new in that class - think, how to add a text box to a form when I was doing very complicated file processing in my day job). But they wouldn't pay for the programming 101 class, let alone any liberal arts credits. I took to calling it "Training Reimbursement".

brianwawok 5y ago
The IRS guideline as I understand it, is the DEGREE must be job related. Obviously a job could be more strict (but likely not less strict) than the IRS. Like, basically anyone could expense a business degree. Job related? Doing better at business. But if you are a grocery store stocking shelves, you couldn't submit to the IRS college tuition for say an engineering degree. But within that, it should be all classes. So if you are a self-taught programmer and going to school for a computer science degree, it's OK there is a class in public speaking or chemistry. As long as the degree itself is for something that you can justify as job related. * Not a lawyer, hire a pro before offering tuition reimbursement to make sure you don't run afoul with IRS requirements
- syshum 5y ago
  Also not a lawyer, but my understanding is that Job Related only applies if you want to deduct the education expenses from your income taxes. Employers can provide up to $5,250 in reimbursement tax free for all qualified programs regardless of the programs relation to the job Over that amount it becomes a fringe benefit subject to income taxation, however if it is job related it can be deducted as an expenses for the employee making it tax free
- spywaregorilla 5y ago
  IRS requirements would be what you can deduct for offering to employees, not what the employer is required to offer
  - brianwawok 5y ago
    For sure! But it would be surprising for someone to offer a benefit like this that is taxable, vs offering the tax-deductible version.
NovemberWhiskey 5y ago
I just checked my employer's program - the eligibility requirement is "must apply as a credit toward a degree that is directly relevant to your current job", for whatever it's worth.
commandlinefan 5y ago
> I learned nothing new in that class That's surprising - when I have a chance to take a "remedial" course on something that I feel like I already know well, I always end up learning at least something I had never thought of before.

brianwawok 5y ago

The IRS guideline as I understand it, is the DEGREE must be job related. Obviously a job could be more strict (but likely not less strict) than the IRS. Like, basically anyone could expense a business degree. Job related? Doing better at business. But if you are a grocery store stocking shelves, you couldn't submit to the IRS college tuition for say an engineering degree. But within that, it should be all classes. So if you are a self-taught programmer and going to school for a computer science degree, it's OK there is a class in public speaking or chemistry. As long as the degree itself is for something that you can justify as job related. * Not a lawyer, hire a pro before offering tuition reimbursement to make sure you don't run afoul with IRS requirements

syshum 5y ago
Also not a lawyer, but my understanding is that Job Related only applies if you want to deduct the education expenses from your income taxes. Employers can provide up to $5,250 in reimbursement tax free for all qualified programs regardless of the programs relation to the job Over that amount it becomes a fringe benefit subject to income taxation, however if it is job related it can be deducted as an expenses for the employee making it tax free
spywaregorilla 5y ago
IRS requirements would be what you can deduct for offering to employees, not what the employer is required to offer
- brianwawok 5y ago
  For sure! But it would be surprising for someone to offer a benefit like this that is taxable, vs offering the tax-deductible version.

NovemberWhiskey 5y ago

I just checked my employer's program - the eligibility requirement is "must apply as a credit toward a degree that is directly relevant to your current job", for whatever it's worth.

commandlinefan 5y ago

> I learned nothing new in that class That's surprising - when I have a chance to take a "remedial" course on something that I feel like I already know well, I always end up learning at least something I had never thought of before.