…at least in Australia, following this landmark case against the Australian Tax Office (ATO): http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/16/2544542.htm
“A Victorian student has successfully claimed education-related expenses as a tax deduction, after a court decision that could open the door for thousands of student-assistance recipients nationwide.”
Tax law expert Miranda Stewart says the case has a number of implications.
“On one level it just applies normal principles that expenses incurred by a taxpayer in gaining assessable income are deductible,” said associate professor Stewart, director of the Taxation Studies program at the University of Melbourne.
“What’s interesting about the case is that she was allowed to claim the expenses against Youth Allowance as assessable income.”
She says this could create a precedent for students across the country and any recipient of welfare payments to claim expenses against their pensions.