Don’t Mess With Nurses
A Maryland nurse came out on top last month in her battle with the Internal Revenue Service. In the process, she may have helped thousands of other students who are getting their M.B.A. degree.
Lori Singleton-Clarke started working toward her Masters of Business Administration through an online degree program in 2005. When she filed her 2006 federal tax return, her tax preparer told her she qualified to take her $14,787 tuition expense as a deduction. When the IRS audited her return in 2006, they disallowed the deduction. Lori (who keeps and files every receipt) kept rereading Publication 970 (Tax Benefits for Education) and continued to believe her deduction was justified. She couldn’t afford to hire an attorney so she handled the many, many letters and meetings with IRS representatives, digging in her heels as the process continued. Ultimately, she took her case to the U.S. Tax Court. Since her case was before the Tax Court, she didn’t have to pay the contested amount before going to trial.
Ms. Singleton-Clarke’s skills as a nurse came in handy. Used to being brushed off (or even ignored) by physicians and surgeons, she was not intimidated when she had her day before Judge Stanley Goldberg in the Tax Court, late in 2008. She sat at one table…..the IRS’s two attorneys and several paralegals were at the other. (If I ever spend time in a hospital, I want a nurse like Lori!) Judge Goldberg later praised her preparation and presentation skills in an interview after he issued his ruling. This case will provide a roadmap for others earning their MBA, and, perhaps, other professional degrees. Good work! Until next time, here’s to good planning!
Thanks for sharing and I agree, if I’m hospitalized I’m calling her! It is so great to hear these stories. And I love your blog!
Loved this story. Very uplifting!