Following up on last month's post, Tax Court Allows Nurse to Deduct Cost of University of Phoenix MBA: the Wall Street Journal reports on the Tax Court's recent decision, Singleton-Clarke v. Commissioner, T.C. Summ. Op. 2009-182 (Dec. 2, 2009), in Nurse Outduels IRS Over M.B.A. Tuition: How One Woman Went to Tax Court and Won Deduction:

A Maryland nurse accomplished two rare feats in her battle with the Internal Revenue Service: She defended herself against the agency's lawyers and won, and she got a ruling that could help tens of thousands of students deduct the cost of an M.B.A. degree on their taxes.

The U.S. Tax Court handed Lori Singleton-Clarke her victory last month, saying the 47-year-old Bryantown, Md., woman had properly deducted nearly $15,000 in business school tuition. The Tax Court ruling should make it easier for many other professionals to deduct the expense of a Master in Business Administration degree. …

Robert Willens, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, said his M.B.A. students were delighted with the decision: "In our program and others, students usually work for several years before they apply, so they think they'll qualify."

(Hat Tip: Justin Axelrod.)