Assume, hypothetically, that it’s 5-6 years into the future from now. You’re a self-employed CPA and . . . kind of tired of the “same old, same old” of financial statement preparation and the like. Better late than never, you find yourself wishing that you had believed your old professor back at UTD when he tried to convince you that tax work was much more fun…

Can’t turn back the clock, but you can and do come up with a feasible plan to change your career-direction before it’s too late::: you’ll continue working but go to SMU Law School in the evenings and take a few of the grad-level / specialized tax courses offered there. Then you’ll start refocusing your career on tax work and gradually dump the boring stuff…

To be clear, you don’t want (or qualify for) a law degree, or to become a lawyer. All you want is to give yourself a good chance – and a good “story” – for redirect-ing your career. You enroll as a non-degree-seeking student; in other words, for “continuing education” only – i.e., just to absorb some additional / wonderful tax knowledge, make some valuable contacts, and be done.

Of course SMU isn’t cheap. Will you deduct the costs of following through with your plan on your Schedule C? Why or why not?