Employment Expense Deductions

Deducting Employment Expenses

If your employer doesn't reimburse you for ordinary and necessary expenses you pay, you may be able to deduct the cost as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% adjusted gross income floor.

You can't deduct the cost of any item for which you would have been reimbursed if you'd asked for the reimbursement.

Generally, you must use Form 2106, Employee Business Expense, or Form 2106-EZ, Un-reimbursed Employee Business Expenses, to figure your tax deduction on your tax return for employee business expenses, and attach if to your Form 1040.

Generally, subject to qualifications, the following expenses are tax deductible on your tax return:

Agency fees for a job
Airfares
Auto club membership
Auto expenses
Books used on the job
Bond costs
Car insurance premiums
Cleaning costs
Commerce association dues
Commuting costs
Computers
Convention trips
Correspondence courses
Depreciation for tax purposes
Dues
Educational expenses
Employment agency fees
Entertainment expenses
Equipment
Foreign travel costs
Furniture
Garage rent
Gasoline
Gasoline tax
Gifts
Home office expenses
Hotel costs
House hunting costs
Instruments
Labor union dues
Laundry
Legal expenses
Local transportation
Lodging
Magazines
Malpractice liability premiums
Meals
Medical examinations
Membership dues and fees
Motel charges
Moving expenses
Parking fees
Passport fees for business travel
Pay turned over to your employer
Periodicals
Protective clothing
Rail fares
Reimbursed expenses
Safety helmets
Safety shoes
Secretarial conventions
Subscriptions
Taxi fares
Telegrams
Telephone calls
Toll charges
Tools
Trade association dues
Transportation and travel expenses
Tuition
Typewriters
Uniforms
Union dues and
Work cloths.