Job Search Expenses May be Tax Deductible

Don't forget to remind your clients that their job search expenses (and your services!!) may be tax deductible. From Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine:

"You can deduct many of the expenses related to your job search -- whether or not you end up getting hired -- as long as the new job is in the same field as your current job. The same rules apply when you're leaving the military, as long as you can prove your new job uses the same skills as your old one, says Martin Nissenbaum, national director of personal income-tax planning for Ernst & Young.

As long as you are looking in the same field, you can deduct most expenses related to the search (but only to the extent that they exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income, and only if you itemize.)

Find more information on About.com or in IRS Publication 529.

The following items may be deductible:

• Resume and job coaching services
• Employment agency fees
• The cost of job-hunting phone calls and mailings
• The cost of printing resumes
• The cost or transportation and lodging when you travel for job-search meetings

Keep extremely accurate records, including a log of whom they meet with (including business cards and copies of applications and letters), where and when they met, and a description of the job."