Originally Posted by
7thgear
If you pay for it on your own, you pay the entire cost out of pocket.
If your airline pays for it and sends you a 1099-NEC, then you're just paying taxes on the cost of the course which would obviously be much less than the out of pocket cost.
Am I figuring this right? I'm trying to decide if I should stomach the cost and pay for the course myself.
Correct. Currently, the federal tax bracket for the average new FO is gonna be around 22% (based on a quick google search) so that’s about $1,000 owed in taxes (based on a cost of $4,500 for the course); not including any applicable state taxes. Now, taxes are much more nuanced and never so clear cut, but you get the point I hope.
Deciding to pay for it on your own or not is more about what gets you hired and potentially, how quick. If not getting it done on your own means being sent to the back of the line, then it could be worth it. However, if you have a job offer already then clearly don’t go out and spend the money.