Ms Lim is a hairdresser and she took up a part-time vocational course in tourism. Her course began on 1 July 2015 and ended on 30 May 2017.
She continues working as a hairdresser after she completed the course. Her annual assessable income, course fee expenditure and amount of Course Fees Relief are as follows:
Year | Year of Assessment (YA) | Annual Assessable Income | Course Fees Paid | Course Fees Relief |
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2015 | 2016 | $19,000 | $2,000 | Deferred |
2016 | 2017 | $20,000 | $3,000 | Deferred |
2017 | 2018 | $21,000 | $1,000 | Deferred |
2018 | 2019 | $21,500 | Nil | Deferred |
2019 | 2020 | $23,000 | Nil | $5,500 |
Ms Lim is allowed to defer her claim on Course Fees Relief since her assessable income for YA 2016 to YA 2018 (i.e. during the course duration) did not exceed $22,000. She is allowed to defer her claim to YA 2019 or YA 2020.
However, as her income did not exceed $22,000 in YA 2019, she can claim the relief in YA 2020.
In YA 2020, she is entitled to claim a relief of $5,500, even though she has incurred $6,000 on course fee. This is because when a taxpayer defers a claim in Course Fees Relief, it can only be claimed once, with a maximum allowable relief of $5,500.