Education expenses are deductible for income tax purposes as a personal allowance. These expenses reduce the income in box 1, but only up to zero. If there is any deduction remaining after that, it is deducted from the income in box 3 and then from the income in box 2.
Training costs
The expenditure must relate to the costs of undertaking a education or studies. The course should be undertaken with the aim of income from employment and property to be acquired. The aim must be to improve the financial and economic position. And all of this must be demonstrated by objective data.
This relates to expenditure on (other expenditure is not eligible for the deduction):
- tuition fees, course fees, university fees, examination fees or PhD costs;
- teaching materials and personal protective equipment required by the educational institution.
Living costs, travel expenses, the cost of excursions and similar items cannot be deducted as education expenses. This exhaustive list of deductible education expenses has been set out in the Income Tax Act 2001 in this way since 1 January 2013. In 2015 the deduction for training expenses has been restricted even further.
Recommended reading
The party concerned in the case concerning Court of Appeal of The Hague He recently completed a course in social and legal services. He claimed the subscription costs for the loose-leaf editions of *Editie Cremers* and *Ars Aequi* (€5,592) as a deduction. The Court agrees with the Tax and Customs Administration that these costs are not deductible. These expenses have been classified by the school as recommended literature. So they are not compulsory teaching materials.
The invocation of the IVESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) is rejected by the Court. As regards the right to education, this Convention merely imposes a duty of best endeavours on the contracting states. It cannot, therefore, be invoked directly.
The interested party invokes a number of other provisions in the proceedings. However, none of these leads to the deduction being granted either. The final recourse is, of course, an appeal to the hardship clause. This request should not have been addressed to the Court, but to the Ministry of Finance. However, the Ministry of Finance would probably not have granted this request.
Keeping knowledge up to date
The costs of maintaining the knowledge and skills required to earn income from current employment may be deducted from business profits or the income from other activities. Employees may not deduct any costs from their wages. Employers, however, may provide such study costs to their employees tax-free.