# Yoga Training tuition deduction



## mcoursd2006 (May 22, 2012)

Wife is taking yoga teacher training with a teacher who's not affiliated with a studio. He's a very respected and reputable teacher with good _lineage_, or so I'm told. He's also not issuing an official receipt for the tuition, which is close to $4K, where had she gone with other programs we would be able to claim as a NRF credit. It's about $600-700 in refund.

What options do I have with having spent $4k and not having any deductions/credits to show for it? Can I deduct it against her future earnings? Other ideas?

Thanks for your input.


----------



## Market Lost (Jul 27, 2016)

mcoursd2006 said:


> Wife is taking yoga teacher training with a teacher who's not affiliated with a studio. He's a very respected and reputable teacher with good _lineage_, or so I'm told. He's also not issuing an official receipt for the tuition, which is close to $4K, where had she gone with other programs we would be able to claim as a NRF credit. It's about $600-700 in refund.
> 
> What options do I have with having spent $4k and not having any deductions/credits to show for it? Can I deduct it against her future earnings? Other ideas?
> 
> Thanks for your input.


I hope she enjoyed it, but unless they were registered as an education institution, and are authorized to issue a T2200, then there is no way she can write it off. In fact, I'm unaware of any yoga studios that are registered, at least Ontario doesn't recognize them. 

BTW, not sure what an NRF credit is, that's a new one to me.


----------



## mcoursd2006 (May 22, 2012)

non-refundable tax credit

Thanks for the reply. Yoga teacher training programs are sometimes associated/affiliated with studios where the studio gets a cut of the tuition but offer studio time for the students. It is easier for the training program to have this affiliation than to rent a space for themselves, and they also have access to a large clientele base. Again, this is what my wife has learned through her research.


----------



## Market Lost (Jul 27, 2016)

mcoursd2006 said:


> non-refundable tax credit
> 
> Thanks for the reply. Yoga teacher training programs are sometimes associated/affiliated with studios where the studio gets a cut of the tuition but offer studio time for the students. It is easier for the training program to have this affiliation than to rent a space for themselves, and they also have access to a large clientele base. Again, this is what my wife has learned through her research.


This doesn't mean that the studio is accredited to issue a T2200, this is up to the provincial regulators to determine this. However, if your wife has a business teaching yoga already, then she could write this off as a current expense. To be able to claim this, she needs to be able to show that she is already qualified to teach, but is upgrading, or maintaining her skills.


----------



## mcoursd2006 (May 22, 2012)

Market Lost said:


> *This doesn't mean that the studio is accredited to issue a T2200, this is up to the provincial regulators to determine this. *However, if your wife has a business teaching yoga already, then she could write this off as a current expense. To be able to claim this, she needs to be able to show that she is already qualified to teach, but is upgrading, or maintaining her skills.


Apparently this is common practice in the yoga industry. She is not currently qualify to teach, so the course would qualify her to do so. Is this not similar to university or college tuition? She currently has income, so I'd be paying for it. I suppose it would be me who'd be claiming it if a T2200 were issued. Is this correct?


----------



## Market Lost (Jul 27, 2016)

mcoursd2006 said:


> Apparently this is common practice in the yoga industry. She is not currently qualify to teach, so the course would qualify her to do so. Is this not similar to university or college tuition? She currently has income, so I'd be paying for it. I suppose it would be me who'd be claiming it if a T2200 were issued. Is this correct?


You're giving me a bad feeling about this industry because they have to be registered to give a T2200. I've even checked the Ontario site and not seen any studio that is registered, not sure if other provinces allow it, but it would surprise me as course are suppose to be for the purpose of earning an income. As yoga studios are not normally in the business of training teachers, but rather people who are just interested in yoga, I find it difficult to believe a province would accredit them. So if there telling people to write off the tuition without the slip, then there on very thin ice. 

As for who claims the tuition, the student is required to use the amount first to zero out their taxes owed. Any amount remaining after this is done can be transferred to you.


----------



## mcoursd2006 (May 22, 2012)

Market Lost said:


> You're giving me a bad feeling about this industry because they have to be registered to give a T2200. I've even checked the Ontario site and not seen any studio that is registered, not sure if other provinces allow it, but it would surprise me as course are suppose to be for the purpose of earning an income. As yoga studios are not normally in the business of training teachers, but rather people who are just interested in yoga, I find it difficult to believe a province would accredit them. So if there telling people to write off the tuition without the slip, then there on very thin ice.


Again, I'm told that some studios offer teacher training course, and the training programs are, in essence, separate entities from the studio. It is an affiliation of convenience since the training programs are able to offer students studio time for practice. The teacher who administers the course is the one who issues the slips. So it is not the studio, per se, who are registered, but the training/teaching school that are accredited.



Market Lost said:


> As for who claims the tuition, the student is required to use the amount first to zero out their taxes owed. Any amount remaining after this is done can be transferred to you.


Since she has no income I would claim the whole amount. But without the T2000 I would be out of luck, as it appears.


----------



## willistrong (Jul 12, 2020)

Does it matter? If the instructor is a good one it doesn't depend on the studio. I write my opinion here regarding that the instructor makes all difference even though he is affiliated to a studio or works independently. I remark here that my wife's instructor works for him because his experience is over ten years!


----------



## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

mcoursd2006 said:


> Apparently this is common practice in the yoga industry. She is not currently qualify to teach, so the course would qualify her to do so. Is this not similar to university or college tuition?


If it is for the Federal tuition tax credit, my understanding is that it's going to depend on the institution being on the list of designated educational institutions (DEI) that shows it was certified by the Minister of Human Resources Development.

If it is a provincial tuition tax credit then it's up to the whatever the province decides. Keep in mind that Ontario, Saskatchewan, BC and Alberta have dropped their education tax credit.









TaxTips.ca - Tuition Education and Textbook Tax Credits


TaxTips.ca - Students - Tuition, education, and textbook tax credits




www.taxtips.ca








mcoursd2006 said:


> ... She currently has income, so I'd be paying for it. I suppose it would be me who'd be claiming it if a T2200 were issued. Is this correct?


Considering the T2200 form is a "Declaration of Conditions of Employment" that IIRC, will only allow the employee to deduct expenses ... I don' t think so.

The new T2202 that replaced the T2202A in 2019, may be transferable. I haven't checked as it's been decades since I've been at a DEI. 






Important update for educational institutions - Canada.ca


Message to educational institutions about important changes to reporting for tuition, education, and textbook amounts




www.canada.ca






Cheers


----------

