taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026899taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026902Standard mileage rate.
(p1)The 2012 rate for business use of a vehicle is 551/2 cents per mile.
For the latest information about developments related to Publication 529, such as legislation enacted after it was published, go to
www.irs.gov/pub529.
Photographs of missing children.
(p1)The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Photographs of missing children selected by the Center may appear in this publication on pages that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children home by looking at the photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a
child.
This publication explains which expenses you can claim as miscellaneous itemized deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040 or Form 1040NR). You must reduce the total of most miscellaneous itemized deductions by 2% of your adjusted gross income. This publication covers the following topics.
- Deductions subject to the 2% limit.
- Deductions not subject to the 2% limit.
- Expenses you cannot deduct.
- How to report your deductions.
Some of the deductions previously discussed in this publication are adjustments to income rather than miscellaneous deductions. These include certain employee business expenses that must be listed on Form 2106 or Form 2106-EZ and some that are entered directly on Form 1040. Those deductions, which are discussed in Publication 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses, include employee business expenses of officials paid on a fee basis and performing
artists.
Note.Generally, nonresident aliens are allowed miscellaneous itemized deductions to the extent they are directly related to effectively connected
income.
 | You must keep records to verify your deductions. You should keep receipts, canceled checks, substitute checks, financial account statements, and other documentary evidence. For more information on recordkeeping, see Publication 552, Recordkeeping for
Individuals. |
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink1000290436We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future
editions.
You can write to us at the following address:
Internal Revenue Service
Individual and Specialty Forms and Publications Branch
SE:W:CAR:MP:T:I
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526
Washington, DC 20224
We respond to many letters by telephone. Therefore, it would be helpful if you would include your daytime phone number, including the area code, in your
correspondence.
You can email us at
taxforms@irs.gov. Please put "Publications Comment" on the subject line. You can also send us comments from
www.irs.gov/formspubs/. Select "Comment on Tax Forms and Publications" under "More
Information."
Although we cannot respond individually to each comment received, we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our tax
products.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink1000290437Visit
www.irs.gov/formspubs/
to download forms and publications, call 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676), or
write to the address below and receive a response within 10 days after your
request is received.
Internal Revenue Service
1201 N. Mitsubishi Motorway
Bloomington, IL 61705-6613If you have a tax question, check the information available on IRS.gov or call 1-800-829-1040. We cannot answer tax questions sent to either of the above
addresses.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#TXMP591bf3daUseful items
You may want to see:
Publication 463 Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses
525 Taxable and Nontaxable Income 535 Business Expenses 587 Business Use of Your Home (Including Use by Daycare Providers) 946 How To Depreciate Property Form (and Instructions) Schedule A (Form 1040):
Itemized Deductions 2106:
Employee Business Expenses
2106-EZ:
Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses See
How To Get Tax Help
near the end of this publication for information about getting these
publications and forms.
You can deduct certain expenses as miscellaneous itemized deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040 or Form 1040NR). You can claim the amount of expenses that is more than 2% of your adjusted gross income. You figure your deduction on Schedule A by subtracting 2% of your adjusted gross income from the total amount of these expenses. Your adjusted gross income is the amount on Form 1040, line 38, or Form 1040NR, line
37.
Deductions subject to the 2% limit are discussed in the following three categories.
- Unreimbursed employee expenses (Schedule A (Form 1040), line 21 or Schedule A (Form 1040NR), line 7).
- Tax preparation fees (Schedule A (Form 1040), line 22 or Schedule A (Form 1040NR), line
8).
- Other expenses (Schedule A (Form 1040), line 23 or Schedule A (Form 1040NR), line
9).
Generally, the following expenses are deducted on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 21, or Schedule A (Form 1040NR), line
7.
You can deduct only unreimbursed employee expenses that are:
- Paid or incurred during your tax year,
- For carrying on your trade or business of being an employee,
and
- Ordinary and necessary.
An expense is ordinary if it is common and accepted in your trade, business, or profession. An expense is necessary if it is appropriate and helpful to your business. An expense does not have to be required to be considered
necessary.
You may be able to deduct the following items as unreimbursed employee expenses.
- Business bad debt of an employee.
- Business liability insurance premiums.
- Damages paid to a former employer for breach of an employment contract.
- Depreciation on a computer your employer requires you to use in your work.
- Dues to a chamber of commerce if membership helps you do your job.
- Dues to professional societies.
- Educator expenses.
- Home office or part of your home used regularly and exclusively in your work.
- Job search expenses in your present occupation.
- Laboratory breakage fees.
- Legal fees related to your job.
- Licenses and regulatory fees.
- Malpractice insurance premiums.
- Medical examinations required by an employer.
- Occupational taxes.
- Passport for a business trip.
- Repayment of an income aid payment received under an employer's plan.
- Research expenses of a college professor.
- Rural mail carriers' vehicle expenses.
- Subscriptions to professional journals and trade magazines related to your work.
- Tools and supplies used in your work.
- Travel, transportation, meals, entertainment, gifts, and local lodging related to your work.
- Union dues and expenses.
- Work clothes and uniforms if required and not suitable for everyday use.
- Work-related education.
A business bad debt is a loss from a debt created or acquired in your trade or business. Any other worthless debt is a business bad debt only if there is a very close relationship between the debt and your trade or business when the debt becomes
worthless.
A debt has a very close relationship to your trade or business of being an employee if your main motive for incurring the debt is a business
reason.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026915You make a bona fide loan to the corporation you work for. It fails to pay you back. You had to make the loan in order to keep your job. You have a business bad debt as an
employee.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026916For more information on business bad debts, see chapter 10 in Publication
535. For information on nonbusiness bad debts, see chapter 4 in Publication
550, Investment Income and Expenses.
You can deduct insurance premiums you paid for protection against personal liability for wrongful acts on the
job.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026918If you break an employment contract, you can deduct damages you pay your former employer if the damages are attributable to the pay you received from that
employer.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026919You can claim a depreciation deduction for a computer that you use in your work as an employee if its use
is:
- For the convenience of your employer, and
- Required as a condition of your employment.
This means that your use of the computer is for a substantial business reason of your employer. You must consider all facts in making this determination. Use of your computer during your regular working hours to carry on your employer's business is generally for the convenience of your
employer.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026921This means that you cannot properly perform your duties without the computer. Whether you can properly perform your duties without it depends on all the facts and circumstances. It is not necessary that your employer explicitly requires you to use your computer. But neither is it enough that your employer merely states that your use of the item is a condition of your
employment.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026922You are an engineer with an engineering firm. You occasionally take work home at night rather than work late at the office. You own and use a computer that is similar to the one you use at the office to complete your work at home. Since your use of the computer is not for the convenience of your employer and is not required as a condition of your employment, you cannot claim a depreciation deduction for
it.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026923The depreciation method you use depends on whether you meet the more-than-50%-use test.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026924You meet this test if you use the computer more than 50% in your work. If you meet this test, you can claim accelerated depreciation under the General Depreciation System (GDS). In addition, you may be able to take the section 179 deduction for the year you place the item in
service.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026925If you do not meet the more-than-50%-use test, you are limited to the straight line method of depreciation under the Alternative Depreciation System (ADS). You also cannot claim the section 179 deduction. (But if you use your computer in a home office, see the exception below.)
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026926Your use of a computer in connection with investments (described later under
Other Expenses) does not count as use in your work. However, you can combine your investment use with your work use in figuring your depreciation deduction.
The more-than-50%-use test does not apply to a computer used only in a part of your home that meets the requirements described later under
Home Office. You can claim accelerated depreciation using GDS for a computer used in a qualifying home office, even if you do not use it more than 50% in your work. You also may be able to take a section 179 deduction for the year you place the computer in service. See
Computer used in a home office under
How To Report, later.
For more information on depreciation and the section 179 deduction for computers and other items used in a home office, see
Business Furniture and Equipment in Publication
587. Publication
946
has detailed information about the section 179 deduction and depreciation
deductions using GDS and ADS.
See
How To Report, later, for information about reporting a deduction for depreciation.
| You must keep records to prove your percentage of business and investment use.
|
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026931You may be able to deduct dues paid to professional organizations (such as bar associations and medical associations) and to chambers of commerce and similar organizations, if membership helps you carry out the duties of your job. Similar organizations include:
- Boards of trade,
- Business leagues,
- Civic or public service organizations,
- Real estate boards, and
- Trade associations.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026932
You may not be able to deduct that part of your dues that is for certain
lobbying and political activities. See
Lobbying Expenses
under
Nondeductible Expenses,
later.
If you were an eligible educator in 2012, you can deduct up to $250 of qualified expenses you paid in 2012 as an adjustment to gross income on Form 1040, line 23, rather than as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. If you file Form 1040A, you can deduct these expenses on line 16. If you and your spouse are filing jointly and both of you were eligible educators, the maximum deduction is $500. However, neither spouse can deduct more than $250 of his or her qualified
expenses.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink1000275215An eligible educator is a kindergarten through grade 12 teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide in school for at least 900 hours during a school
year.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink1000275216Qualified expenses include ordinary and necessary expenses paid in connection with books, supplies, equipment (including computer equipment, software, and services), and other materials used in the classroom. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your educational field. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your profession as an educator. An expense does not have to be required to be considered
necessary.
Qualified expenses do not include expenses for home schooling or for nonathletic supplies for courses in health or physical education. You must reduce your qualified expenses by the following
amounts.
- Excludable U.S. series EE and I savings bond interest from Form
8815.
- Nontaxable qualified state tuition program earnings.
- Nontaxable earnings from Coverdell education savings accounts.
- Any reimbursements you received for those expenses that were not reported to you on your Form W-2, box
1.
If you were an educator in 2012 and you had qualified expenses that you cannot take as an adjustment to gross income, you can deduct the rest as an itemized deduction subject to the 2%
limit.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026933If you use a part of your home regularly and exclusively for business purposes, you may be able to deduct a part of the operating expenses and depreciation of your
home.
You can claim this deduction for the business use of a part of your home only if you use that part of your home regularly and exclusively:
- As your principal place of business for any trade or business,
- As a place to meet or deal with your patients, clients, or customers in the normal course of your trade or business,
or
- In the case of a separate structure not attached to your home, in connection with your trade or
business.
The regular and exclusive business use must be for the convenience of your employer and not just appropriate and helpful in your job.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026934If you have more than one place of business, the business part of your home is your principal place of business
if:
- You use it regularly and exclusively for administrative or management activities of your trade or business,
and
- You have no other fixed location where you conduct substantial administrative or management activities of your trade or
business.
Otherwise, the location of your principal place of business generally depends on the relative importance of the activities performed at each location and the time spent at each
location.
| You should keep records that will give the information needed to figure the deduction according to these rules. Also keep canceled checks, substitute checks, or account statements and receipts of the expenses paid to prove the deductions you
claim. |
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026936See Publication
587
for more detailed information and a worksheet for figuring the deduction.
You can deduct certain expenses you have in looking for a new job in your present occupation, even if you do not get a new job. You cannot deduct these expenses
if:
- You are looking for a job in a new occupation,
- There was a substantial break between the ending of your last job and your looking for a new one,
or
- You are looking for a job for the first time.
You can deduct employment and outplacement agency fees you pay in looking for a
new job in your present occupation.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026939If, in a later year, your employer pays you back for employment agency fees, you must include the amount you receive in your gross income up to the amount of your tax benefit in the earlier year. See
Recoveries
in Publication
525.
If your employer pays the fees directly to the employment agency and you are not responsible for them, you do not include them in your gross
income.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026941You can deduct amounts you spend for preparing and mailing copies of a résumé to prospective employers if you are looking for a new job in your present
occupation.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026942If you travel to an area and, while there, you look for a new job in your present occupation, you may be able to deduct travel expenses to and from the area. You can deduct the travel expenses if the trip is primarily to look for a new job. The amount of time you spend on personal activity compared to the amount of time you spend in looking for work is important in determining whether the trip is primarily personal or is primarily to look for a new
job.
Even if you cannot deduct the travel expenses to and from an area, you can deduct the expenses of looking for a new job in your present occupation while in the
area.
You can choose to use the standard mileage rate to figure your car expenses. The 2012 rate for business use of a vehicle is
55
1/
2 cents per mile. See Publication
463 for more information on travel and car expenses.
You can deduct legal fees related to doing or keeping your job.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026944You can deduct the amount you pay each year to state or local governments for licenses and regulatory fees for your trade, business, or
profession.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026945You can deduct an occupational tax charged at a flat rate by a locality for the privilege of working or conducting a business in the locality. If you are an employee, you can claim occupational taxes only as a miscellaneous deduction subject to the 2% limit; you cannot claim them as a deduction for taxes elsewhere on your return.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026946An "income aid payment" is one that is received under an employer's plan to aid employees who lose their jobs because of lack of work. If you repay a lump-sum income aid payment that you received and included in income in an earlier year, you can deduct the
repayment.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026947If you are a college professor, you can deduct your research expenses, including travel expenses, for teaching, lecturing, or writing and publishing on subjects that relate directly to your teaching duties. You must have undertaken the research as a means of carrying out the duties expected of a professor and without expectation of profit apart from salary. However, you cannot deduct the cost of travel as a form of education.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026948If your expenses to use a vehicle in performing services as a rural mail carrier are more than the amount of your reimbursements, you can deduct the unreimbursed expenses. See chapter 4 of Publication
463 for more information.
Generally, you can deduct amounts you spend for tools used in your work if the tools wear out and are thrown away within 1 year from the date of purchase. You can depreciate the cost of tools that have a useful life substantially beyond the tax year. For more information about depreciation, see Publication
946.
If you are an employee and have ordinary and necessary business-related expenses for travel away from home, local transportation, entertainment, and gifts, you may be able to deduct these expenses. Generally, you must file Form 2106 or Form 2106-EZ to claim these
expenses.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026951Travel expenses are those incurred while traveling away from home for your employer. You can deduct travel expenses paid or incurred in connection with a temporary work assignment. Generally, you cannot deduct travel expenses paid or incurred in connection with an indefinite work assignment.
Travel expenses may include:
- The cost of getting to and from your business destination (air, rail, bus, car,
etc.),
- Meals and lodging while away from home,
- Taxi fares,
- Baggage charges, and
- Cleaning and laundry expenses.
Travel expenses are discussed more fully in chapter 1 of Publication
463.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026952
If your assignment or job away from home in a single location is realistically
expected to last (and does in fact last) for 1 year or less, it is temporary,
unless there are facts and circumstances that indicate it is not.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026953If your assignment or job away from home in a single location is realistically expected to last for more than 1 year, it is indefinite, whether or not it actually lasts for more than 1 year.
If your assignment or job away from home in a single location is realistically expected to last for 1 year or less, but at some later date it is realistically expected to exceed 1 year, it will be treated as temporary (in the absence of facts and circumstances indicating otherwise) until the date that your realistic expectation changes, and it will be treated as indefinite after that
date.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026954If you are a federal employee participating in a federal crime investigation or prosecution, you are not subject to the 1-year rule for deducting temporary travel expenses. This means that you may be able to deduct travel expenses even if you are away from your tax home for more than 1
year.
To qualify, the Attorney General must certify that you are traveling:
- For the Federal Government,
- In a temporary duty status, and
- To investigate, prosecute, or provide support services for the investigation or prosecution of a federal
crime.
If you are a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States and you travel more than 100 miles away from home in connection with your performance of services as a member of the reserves, you can deduct some of your travel expenses as an adjustment to gross income rather than as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. The amount of expenses you can deduct as an adjustment to gross income is limited to the regular federal per diem rate (for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses) and the standard mileage rate (for car expenses) plus any parking fees, ferry fees, and tolls. The balance, if any, is reported on Schedule
A.
You are a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States if you are in the Army, Naval, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard Reserve, the Army National Guard of the United States, the Air National Guard of the United States, or the Reserve Corps of the Public Health
Service.
For more information on travel expenses, see Publication
463.
Local transportation expenses are the expenses of getting from one workplace to another when you are not traveling away from home. They include the cost of transportation by air, rail, bus, taxi, and the cost of using your
car.
You can choose to use the standard mileage rate to figure your car expenses. The 2012 rate for business use of a vehicle is
551/2 cents per mile.
 | In general, the costs of commuting between your residence and your place of business are
nondeductible. |
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026957If you work at two places in a day, whether or not for the same employer, you can generally deduct the expenses of getting from one workplace to the
other.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026958You can deduct expenses incurred in going between your home and a temporary work location if at least one of the following
applies.
- The work location is outside the metropolitan area where you live and normally
work.
- You have at least one regular work location (other than your home) for the same trade or business. (If this applies, the distance between your home and the temporary work location does not
matter.)
For this purpose, a work location is generally considered temporary if your work there is realistically expected to last (and does in fact last) for 1 year or less. It is not temporary if your work there is realistically expected to last for more than 1 year, even if it actually lasts for 1 year or less. If your work there initially is realistically expected to last for 1 year or less, but later is realistically expected to last for more than 1 year, the work location is generally considered temporary until the date your realistic expectation changes and not temporary after that date. For more information, see chapter 1 of Publication
463.
You can deduct expenses incurred in going between your home and a workplace if your home is your principal place of business for the same trade or business. (In this situation, whether the other workplace is temporary or regular and its distance from your home do not matter.) See
Home Office, earlier, for a discussion on the use of your home as your principal place of business.
Generally, you can deduct entertainment expenses (including entertainment-related meals) only if they are directly related to the active conduct of your trade or business. However, the expense only needs to be associated with the active conduct of your trade or business if it directly precedes or follows a substantial and bona fide business-related
discussion.
You can deduct only 50% of your business-related meal and entertainment expenses unless the expenses meet certain exceptions. You apply this 50% limit before you apply the 2%-of-adjusted-gross-income
limit.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026961You can deduct 80% of your business-related meal expenses if you consume the meals during or incident to any period subject to the Department of Transportation's "hours of service" limits. You apply this 80% limit before you apply the 2%-of-adjusted-gross-income
limit.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026962You can generally deduct up to $25 of business gifts you give to any one individual during the year. The following items do not count toward the $25 limit.
- Identical, widely distributed items costing $4 or less that have your name clearly and permanently
imprinted.
- Signs, racks, and promotional materials to be displayed on the business premises of the
recipient.
If your employer provides or requires you to obtain lodging while you are not traveling away from home, you can deduct the cost of the lodging if it
is:
- on a temporary basis,
- necessary for you to participate in or be available for a business meeting or employer function,
and
- the costs are ordinary and necessary, but not lavish or extravagant.
If your employer provides the lodging or reimburses you for the cost of the lodging, you can deduct the cost only if the value or the reimbursement is included in your gross income because it is reported as wages on your Form
W-2.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026964See Publication
463
for more information on travel, transportation, meal, entertainment, and gift
expenses, and reimbursements for these expenses.
You can deduct dues and initiation fees you pay for union membership.
You can also deduct assessments for benefit payments to unemployed union members. However, you cannot deduct the part of the assessments or contributions that provides funds for the payment of sick, accident, or death benefits. Also, you cannot deduct contributions to a pension fund even if the union requires you to make the
contributions.
You may not be able to deduct amounts you pay to the union that are related to certain lobbying and political activities. See
Lobbying Expenses
under
Nondeductible Expenses,
later.
You can deduct the cost and upkeep of work clothes if the following two requirements are
met.
- You must wear them as a condition of your employment.
- The clothes are not suitable for everyday wear.
| It is not enough that you wear distinctive clothing. The clothing must be specifically required by your employer. Nor is it enough that you do not, in fact, wear your work clothes away from work. The clothing must not be suitable for taking the place of your regular
clothing. |
Examples of workers who may be able to deduct the cost and upkeep of work clothes are: delivery workers, firefighters, health care workers, law enforcement officers, letter carriers, professional athletes, and transportation workers (air, rail, bus,
etc.).
Musicians and entertainers can deduct the cost of theatrical clothing and accessories that are not suitable for everyday wear.
However, work clothing consisting of white cap, white shirt or white jacket, white bib overalls, and standard work shoes, which a painter is required by his union to wear on the job, is not distinctive in character or in the nature of a uniform. Similarly, the costs of buying and maintaining blue work clothes worn by a welder at the request of a foreman are not deductible.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026968You can deduct the cost of protective clothing required in your work, such as safety shoes or boots, safety glasses, hard hats, and work gloves.
Examples of workers who may be required to wear safety items are: carpenters, cement workers, chemical workers, electricians, fishing boat crew members, machinists, oil field workers, pipe fitters, steamfitters, and truck drivers.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026969You generally cannot deduct the cost of your uniforms if you are on full-time active duty in the armed forces. However, if you are an armed forces reservist, you can deduct the unreimbursed cost of your uniform if military regulations restrict you from wearing it except while on duty as a reservist. In figuring the deduction, you must reduce the cost by any nontaxable allowance you receive for these
expenses.
If local military rules do not allow you to wear fatigue uniforms when you are off duty, you can deduct the amount by which the cost of buying and keeping up these uniforms is more than the uniform allowance you
receive.
If you are a student at an armed forces academy, you cannot deduct the cost of your uniforms if they replace regular clothing. However, you can deduct the cost of insignia, shoulder boards, and related
items.
You can deduct the cost of your uniforms if you are a civilian faculty or staff member of a military
school.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026970You can deduct expenses you have for education, even if the education may lead to a degree, if the education meets at least one of the following two tests.
- It maintains or improves skills required in your present work.
- It is required by your employer or the law to keep your salary, status, or job, and the requirement serves a business purpose of your
employer.
You cannot deduct expenses you have for education, even though one or both of the preceding tests are met, if the
education:
- Is needed to meet the minimum educational requirements to qualify you in your trade or business,
or
- Is part of a program of study that will lead to qualifying you in a new trade or business.
If your education qualifies, you can deduct expenses for tuition, books, supplies, laboratory fees, and similar items, and certain transportation costs.
If the education qualifies you for a new trade or business, you cannot deduct the educational expenses even if you do not intend to enter that trade or
business.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026971You cannot deduct the cost of travel that in itself constitutes a form of education. For example, a French teacher who travels to France to maintain general familiarity with the French language and culture cannot deduct the cost of the trip as an educational
expense.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026972See Publication
970, Tax Benefits for Education, for a complete discussion of the deduction for work-related education
expenses.
If you stop working for a year or less in order to get education in order to maintain or improve skills needed in your present work and then return to the same general type of work, your absence is considered temporary. Education that you get during a temporary absence is qualifying work-related education if it maintains or improves skills needed in your present
work.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026973You can usually deduct tax preparation fees on the return for the year in which you pay them. Thus, on your 2012 return, you can deduct fees paid in 2012 for preparing your 2011 return. These fees include the cost of tax preparation software programs and tax publications. They also include any fee you paid for electronic filing of your return. See
Tax preparation fees under
How To Report, later.
You can deduct certain other expenses as miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the 2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit. On Schedule A (Form 1040), line 23, or Schedule A (Form 1040NR), line 9, you can deduct the ordinary and necessary expenses that you pay:
- To produce or collect income that must be included in your gross
income,
- To manage, conserve, or maintain property held for producing such income,
or
- To determine, contest, pay, or claim a refund of any tax.
You can deduct expenses you pay for the purposes in (1) and (2) above only if they are reasonable and closely related to these purposes.
These other expenses include the following items.
- Appraisal fees for a casualty loss or charitable contribution.
- Casualty and theft losses from property used in performing services as an
employee.
- Clerical help and office rent in caring for investments.
- Depreciation on home computers used for investments.
- Excess deductions (including administrative expenses) allowed a beneficiary on termination of an estate or trust.
- Fees to collect interest and dividends.
- Hobby expenses, but generally not more than hobby income.
- Indirect miscellaneous deductions from pass-through entities.
- Investment fees and expenses.
- Legal fees related to producing or collecting taxable income or getting tax advice.
- Loss on deposits in an insolvent or bankrupt financial institution.
- Loss on traditional IRAs or Roth IRAs, when all amounts have been distributed to
you.
- Repayments of income.
- Repayments of social security benefits.
- Safe deposit box rental, except for storing jewelry and other personal effects.
- Service charges on dividend reinvestment plans.
- Tax advice fees.
- Trustee's fees for your IRA, if separately billed and paid.
If the expenses you pay produce income that is only partially taxable, see
Tax-Exempt Income Expenses, later, under
Nondeductible Expenses.You can deduct appraisal fees if you pay them to figure a casualty loss or the fair market value of donated property.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026976You can deduct a casualty or theft loss as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% limit if you used the damaged or stolen property in performing services as an employee. First report the loss in Section B of Form 4684, Casualties and Thefts. You may also have to include the loss on Form 4797, Sales of Business Property, if you are otherwise required to file that form. To figure your deduction, add all casualty or theft losses from this type of property included on Form 4684, lines 32 and 38b, or Form 4797, line 18a. For more information on casualty and theft losses, see Publication
547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts.
You can deduct office expenses, such as rent and clerical help, that you have in connection with your investments and collecting the taxable income on them.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink1000234676You can deduct the convenience fee charged by the card processor for paying your income tax (including estimated tax payments) by credit or debit card. The fees are deductible on the return for the year in which you paid them. For example, fees charged to payments made in 2012 can be claimed on the 2012 tax return.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026978You can deduct depreciation on your home computer if you use it to produce income (for example, to manage your investments that produce taxable income). You generally must depreciate the computer using the straight line method over the Alternative Depreciation System (ADS) recovery period. But if you work as an employee and also use the computer in that work, see
Depreciation on Computers under
Unreimbursed Employee Expenses, earlier. For more information on depreciation, see Publication
946.
If an estate's total deductions in its last tax year are more than its gross income for that year, the beneficiaries succeeding to the estate's property can deduct the excess. Do not include deductions for the estate's personal exemption and charitable contributions when figuring the estate's total deductions. The beneficiaries can claim the deduction only for the tax year in which, or with which, the estate terminates, whether the year of termination is a normal year or a short tax year. For more information, see
Termination of Estate
in Publication
559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators.
You can deduct fees you pay to a broker, bank, trustee, or similar agent to collect your taxable bond interest or dividends on shares of stock. But you cannot deduct a fee you pay to a broker to buy investment property, such as stocks or bonds. You must add the fee to the cost of the property.
You cannot deduct the fee you pay to a broker to sell securities. You can use the fee only to figure gain or loss from the sale. See the instructions for Schedule D (Form 1040) for information on how to report the fee.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026981You can generally deduct hobby expenses, but only up to the amount of hobby income. A hobby is not a business because it is not carried on to make a profit. See
Not-for-Profit Activities
in chapter 1 of Publication
535.
Pass-through entities include partnerships, S corporations, and mutual funds that are not publicly offered. Deductions of pass-through entities are passed through to the partners or shareholders. The partners or shareholders can deduct their share of passed-through deductions for investment expenses as miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the 2%
limit.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026983You are a member of an investment club that is formed solely to invest in securities. The club is treated as a partnership. The partnership's income is solely from taxable dividends, interest, and gains from sales of securities. In this case, you can deduct your share of the partnership's operating expenses as miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the 2% limit. However, if the investment club partnership has investments that also produce nontaxable income, you cannot deduct your share of the partnership's expenses that produce the nontaxable income.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026984Publicly offered mutual funds do not pass deductions for investment expenses through to shareholders. A mutual fund is "publicly offered" if it is:
- Continuously offered pursuant to a public offering,
- Regularly traded on an established securities market, or
- Held by or for at least 500 persons at all times during the tax
year.
A publicly offered mutual fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV, Dividends and Distributions, or a substitute form, showing the net amount of dividend income (gross dividends minus investment expenses). This net figure is the amount you report on your return as income. You cannot further deduct investment expenses related to publicly offered mutual funds because they are already included as part of the net income amount.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026985You should receive information returns from pass-through entities.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026986These entities issue Schedule K-1, which lists the items and amounts you must report, and identifies the tax return schedules and lines to use.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026987These funds will send you a Form 1099-DIV, or a substitute form, showing your share of gross income and investment expenses. You can claim the expenses only as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% limit.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026988You can deduct investment fees, custodial fees, trust administration fees, and other expenses you paid for managing your investments that produce taxable income.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026989You can usually deduct legal expenses that you incur in attempting to produce or collect taxable income or that you pay in connection with the determination, collection, or refund of any tax.
You can also deduct legal expenses that are:
- Related to either doing or keeping your job, such as those you paid to defend yourself against criminal charges arising out of your trade or business,
- For tax advice related to a divorce if the bill specifies how much is for tax advice and it is determined in a reasonable way,
or
- To collect taxable alimony.
You can deduct expenses of resolving tax issues relating to profit or loss from business (Schedule C or C-EZ), rentals or royalties (Schedule E), or farm income and expenses (Schedule F) on the appropriate schedule. You deduct expenses of resolving nonbusiness tax issues on Schedule A (Form 1040 or Form 1040NR). See
Tax Preparation Fees,
earlier.
You may be able to deduct, as an adjustment to income on Form 1040, line 36, or Form 1040NR, line 35, rather than as a miscellaneous itemized deduction, attorney fees and court costs for actions settled or decided after October 22, 2004, involving a claim of unlawful discrimination, a claim against the U.S. Government, or a claim made under section 1862(b)(3)(A) of the Social Security Act. However, the amount you can deduct on Form 1040, line 36, or Form 1040NR, line 35, is limited to the amount of the judgment or settlement you are including in income for the tax year. See Publication
525 for more information.
A loss on deposits can occur when a bank, credit union, or other financial institution becomes insolvent or bankrupt. If you can reasonably estimate the amount of your loss on money you have on deposit in a financial institution that becomes insolvent or bankrupt, you can generally choose to deduct it in the current year even though its exact amount has not been finally determined. If elected, the casualty loss is subject to certain deduction limitations. The election is made on Form 4684. Once you make this choice, you cannot change it without IRS approval.
If none of the deposit is federally insured, you can deduct the loss in either of the following
ways.
- As an ordinary loss (as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% limit). Write the name of the financial institution and "Insolvent Financial Institution" beside the amount on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 23, or Schedule A (Form 1040NR), line 9. This deduction is limited to $20,000 ($10,000 if you are married filing separately) for each financial institution, reduced by any expected state insurance
proceeds.
- As a casualty loss. Report it on Form 4684 first and then on Schedule A (Form 1040). See Publication
547 for details.
- As a nonbusiness bad debt. Report it on Schedule D (Form 1040).
If any part of the deposit is federally insured, you can deduct the loss only as a casualty loss.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026992You cannot make this choice if you are a 1%-or-more-owner or an officer of the financial institution, or are related to such owner or officer. For a definition of "related," see
Deposit in Insolvent or Bankrupt Financial Institution
in chapter 4 of Publication 550.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026993If you make this choice and your actual loss is less than your estimated loss, you must include the excess in income. See
Recoveries
in Publication
525. If your actual loss is more than your estimated loss, treat the excess loss as explained under
Choice not made,
next.
If you do not make this choice (or if you have an excess actual loss after choosing to deduct your estimated loss), treat your loss (or excess loss) as a nonbusiness bad debt (deductible as a short-term capital loss) in the year its amount is finally determined. See
Nonbusiness Bad Debts
in chapter 4 of Publication
550.
If you have a loss on your traditional IRA (or Roth IRA) investment, you can deduct the loss as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% limit, but only when all the amounts in all your traditional IRA (or Roth IRA) accounts have been distributed to you and the total distributions are less than your unrecovered basis. For more information, see Publication
590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs).
If you had to repay an amount that you included in income in an earlier year, you may be able to deduct the amount you repaid. If the amount you had to repay was ordinary income of $3,000 or less, the deduction is subject to the 2% limit. If it was more than $3,000, see
Repayments Under Claim of Right
under
Deductions Not Subject to the 2% Limit,
later.
If the total of the amounts in box 5 (net benefits for 2012) of all your Forms SSA-1099, Social Security Benefit Statement, and Forms RRB-1099, Payments By the Railroad Retirement Board, is a negative figure (a figure in parentheses), you may be able to take a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% limit. The amount you can deduct is the part of the negative figure that represents an amount you included in gross income in an earlier
year.
The amount in box 5 of Form SSA-1099 or RRB-1099 is the net amount of your benefits for the year. It will be a negative figure if the amount of benefits you repaid in 2012 (box 4) is more than the gross amount of benefits paid to you in 2012 (box
3).
| If the deduction is more than $3,000, you will have to use a special computation to figure your tax. See Publication
915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits, for additional information.
|
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100026999You can deduct safe deposit box rent if you use the box to store taxable income-producing stocks, bonds, or investment-related papers and documents. You cannot deduct the rent if you use the box only for jewelry, other personal items, or tax-exempt securities.
taxmap/pubs/p529-000.htm#en_us_publink100027000You can deduct service charges you pay as a subscriber in a dividend reinvestment plan. These service charges include payments
for:
- Holding shares acquired through a plan,
- Collecting and reinvesting cash dividends, and
- Keeping individual records and providing detailed statements of
accounts.
Trustee's administrative fees that are billed separately and paid by you in connection with your IRA are deductible (if they are ordinary and necessary) as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2%
limit.
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