I am attending a non-accredited, non-eligible school to receive Certification. The tuition is $7,000.00. Can I claim this certification program somewhere on my taxes?

It depends.

If you are not able to claim an education deduction because your education expenses do not qualify, the only other place that you might be able to claim some of these expenses would be as work-related expenses. (Otherwise, they would be considered personal expenses and you would not be able to claim them on your tax return.)

According to the IRS, for work-related education to be deductible, your expenses must be for education that (1) maintains or improves your job skills or (2) your employer or a law requires it to keep your salary, status, or job. However, even if the education meets either of these tests, the education cannot be part of a program that will qualify you for a new trade or business or that you need to meet the minimal educational requirements of your trade or business

If your education expenses could be considered job-related, then you would be able to claim a deduction as un-reimbursed job-related expenses. These are deductible miscellaneous expenses that are subject to a 2% AGI limitation and are only deductible if you itemize.

To enter your job-related expenses in TurboTax Online or Desktop, please follow these steps:

1. Once you are in your tax return, click on the “Federal Taxes” tab
2. Next click on “Deductions and credits”
3. Next click on "jump to full list" or “I’ll choose what I work on”
4. Scroll down the screen until to come to the section “Employment Expenses”
5. Choose "show more", then Job-related expenses and follow the onscreen instructions

• Say "yes" to question "Did you have any of these expenses in 2016 for your W-2 income?" under the screen titled "Employment Expenses Related to a W-2".
• after about 6 to 10 question screens, you will get to a screen titled "Any Other Expenses" you can put this information here (see screenshot)

Please note: For an accreditation exam that is not required by your employer but is an initial exam, the IRS will not allow you to claim a miscellaneous deduction.

According to the IRS, when the expense involves Professional Accreditation Fees, you can't deduct professional accreditation fees such as the following: 

• Accounting certificate fees paid for the initial right to practice accounting.
• Bar exam fees and incidental expenses in securing initial admission to the bar.
• Medical and dental license fees paid to get initial licensing.  

For more information about what is allowed and what is not allowed as a miscellaneous deduction, please refer to the following link:

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p529/ar02.html#en_US_2015_publink100027031