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IRS Summertime Tax Tip 2013-03: Job Search Expenses May Lower Your Taxes
Summer is often a time when people make major life decisions. Common events include buying a home, getting married or changing jobs. If you’re looking for a new job in your same line of work, you may be able to claim a tax deduction for some of your job hunting expenses.
Here are seven things the IRS wants you to know about deducting these costs:
- Your expenses must be for a job search in your current occupation. You may not deduct expenses related to a search for a job in a new occupation. If your employer or another party reimburses you for an expense, you may not deduct it.
- You can deduct employment and job placement agency fees you pay while looking for a job.
- You can deduct the cost of preparing and mailing copies of your résumé to prospective employers.
- If you travel to look for a new job, you may be able to deduct your travel expenses. However, you can only deduct them if the trip is primarily to look for a new job.
- You can’t deduct job search expenses if there was a substantial break between the end of your last job and the time you began looking for a new one.
- You can’t deduct job search expenses if you’re looking for a job for the first time.
- You usually will claim job search expenses as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. You can deduct only the amount of your total miscellaneous deductions that exceed two percent of your adjusted gross income.
For more information, see Publication 529, Miscellaneous Deductions. This booklet is available on IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
Additional IRS Resources:
- Publication 529, Miscellaneous Deductions
- The “What Ifs” for Struggling Taxpayers
- Publication 4128, Tax Impact of Job Loss
- Schedule A, Itemized Deductions
IRS YouTube Videos:
IR-2013-64: Reminder: IRS to be Closed July 5 Due to Budget and Sequester; Filing and Payment Deadlines Unchanged
IR-2013-64, July 3, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today reminded taxpayers that due to the current budget situation, including the sequester, the agency will be shut down on Friday, July 5.
As was the case on May 24 and June 14, the first two furlough days, all IRS operations will again be closed on July 5. This means that all IRS offices, including all toll-free hotlines, the Taxpayer Advocate Service and the agency’s nearly 400 taxpayer assistance centers nationwide, will be closed.
IRS employees will be furloughed without pay. No tax returns will be processed and no compliance-related activities will take place. The IRS noted that taxpayers should continue to file their returns and pay any taxes due as usual. This includes the special July 15 filing and payment deadline for those affected by the Boston Marathon explosions. Taxpayers needing to contact the IRS about this or other upcoming returns or payments should be sure to take this Friday’s closure into account.
Because none of the furlough days are considered federal holidays, the shutdown will have no impact on any tax-filing or tax-payment deadlines. The IRS will be unable to accept or acknowledge receipt of electronically-filed returns on any day the agency is shut down.
The only tax-payment deadlines coinciding with any of the furlough days relate to employment and excise tax deposits made by business taxpayers. These deposits must be made through the Treasury Department’s Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), which will operate as usual.
On the other hand, the agency will give taxpayers extra time to comply with a request to provide documents to the IRS. This includes administrative summonses, requests for records in connection with a return examination, review or compliance check, or document requests related to a collection matter. No additional time is given to respond to other agencies or the courts.
Where the last day for responding to an IRS request falls on July 5, the taxpayer will have until Monday, July 8, the next business day.
Some web-based online tool and phone-based automated services will continue to function this Friday, while others will be shut down. Available services include Withholding Calculator, Order A Transcript, EITC Assistant, Interactive Tax Assistant, Tele-Tax and the Online Look-up Tool for those needing to repay the first-time homebuyer credit. Services not available this Friday include Where’s My Refund?, the Online Payment Agreement and the online preparer tax identification number PTIN system for tax professionals. Visit online tools on IRS.gov to learn more about these tools.
The remaining scheduled furlough days are July 22 and Aug. 30, 2013. If necessary, the IRS may announce one or two additional furlough days.
The IRS will also be closed as scheduled on Thursday for the Fourth of July federal holiday
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