Hardship Distribution - post-secondary education

[austin3515]

Would costs related to Continuing Education count for hardship distributions? For whatever reason the employer is not paying for the training, probably she is a per diem employee or something.

[PensionPro]

IRM describes this requirement as "post-secondary school tuition and tuition-like fees (e.g., lab fees) for the next 12 months." I don't know what you mean by continuing education in this context but generally it would not seem to be related to tuition. In the absence of more detailed information I am inclined to think CE expenses do not qualify.

[austin3515]

What is "IRM" and where can I get a copy?

[Peter Gulia]

Although PensionPro might refer to something else, "IRM" is a customary abbreviation for the Internal Revenue Manual.

http://www.irs.gov/irm/index.html

For some topics, a practitioner might read a portion of the Internal Revenue Manual as a way to help consider how an Internal Revenue Service examiner or supervisor might think about a point of tax law.

[austin3515]

Thank you - PensionPro, where in the IRM is the site you mentioned?

[masteff]

I waited to see what others said before weighing in...

First, I presume you intend the jargon meaning of CE: education hours required by a governing body to maintain a license or certification. (Most non-credit classes at my local vo-tech and community college are labeled "continuing ed".)

If you want to be easy, then most any education which requires either a high school education or adulthood is post-secondary. I would argue that in the jargon meaning above, CE is post-secondary because those certifications are generally post-secondary in nature themselves.

If you want to be semi-strict, some plans look at the education tax credits for what constitutes "post-secondary education", using the definition of an "eligible educational institution" which is: "any college, university, vocational school, or other post secondary educational institution eligible to participate in a student aid program run by the U.S. Department of Education." http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Eligible-Educational-Inst This is a "safe" answer although it will exclude some training that is clearly vocational in nature.