Assume, hypothetically, that its 5-6 years into the future from now. Youre a self-employed CPA and . . . kind of tired of the same old, same old of financial state-ment preparation and etc. 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 was a much more fun practice specialty

Cant turn back the clock, but you can and do come up with a feasible plan to change your career-direction before its too late::: youll 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 youll start refocusing your career on tax work and gradually dump the boring stuff

To be 100% clear, you will not be pursuing a law degree or trying to become a lawyer. All you want is to give yourself a good chance and a good story for redirecting your career, perhaps by joining a firm, to specialize in tax planning and consulting. You enroll as a non-degree-seeking student; in other words, for professional education only i.e., just to absorb some additional / wonderful tax knowledge, make some valuable contacts, and be done.

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