My son is doing a double major where music is one of the majors. Are payments for music lessons billed through the school considered a qualified 529 withdrawal?
He’s in his first semester and I believe he will get scholarships for lessons in the future. However, for the first semester they charged him close to $800 on his bill. I didn’t see anything in pub 970 about it.
Thanks
Mark
Will academic credit be awarded as a result of taking the music lessons? Are the lessons a required element of the music major?
I think the music lessons required as part of the class and billed by the school eventually will be shown as part of Box 2 of 1098-T. If it ends up there, then, it should be a qualified tuition. We are in the same shoes, waiting to see if the recent charge of $1,200 for piano lessons through the college will be on the 1098 T (which I think most likely).
For some reason I didn’t think he was getting credit for it, but he is. So, I think it clearly would be a qualified withdrawal. I don’t usually (I have another in college) use the 1098-T for anything because it’s always not included stuff eligible for 529 purposes (for example, when I pay Spring’s tuition in December and I believe room/board).
I agree that if academic credit is being earned with the music lessons, the lessons should be QEE for 529 purposes. I also agree about the problems with a 1098-T. The figures reported on the 1098-T are geared towards assisting with the claim of an education tax credit; however, as you have pointed out, the educational tax credits and the 529 rules use different definitions of the term “Qualified Education Expense” (room and board for example).
@BelknapPoint Thanks. As always you are clear and thorough.