March 31, 2016

7 Tax Tips For Job Seekers

Taxes are due on April 15th. Have you prepared your taxes? If not, you need to do so ASAP. Everyone has to pay taxes. It’s the law.

Did you know that some of your job search expenses might be tax deductible? Tax deductions help you to reduce your taxable income and save money. Read on to learn more.

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According to the IRS, many of your job search costs can be deducted on your tax return if you have documentation. It’s your responsibility to determine what is tax deductible and what is not. Ideally you should seek the help of a tax professional to find out how you can deduct job search expenses, relocation costs, education costs, resume costs, or other odds and ends.

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Before you start deducting every little thing, the IRS has a few tax tips for job seekers. Since we do not want to lead you astray when it comes to taxes, the following tax tips are copied directly from the IRS from a post titled Job Search Expenses May Lower Your Taxes:

  1. 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.
  2. You can deduct employment and job placement agency fees you pay while looking for a job.
  3. You can deduct the cost of preparing and mailing copies of your résumé to prospective employers.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. You can’t deduct job search expenses if you’re looking for a job for the first time.
  7. 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 the most up-to-date information about miscellaneous tax deductions, read IRS Publication 529 (PDF). Most of the information about job search expenses is located on page 5.

Taxes are complicated. Please do your own research to verify the tax tips for job seekers in this post. If you have any questions contact a tax professional near you. They may be able to help you find other deductions that can save you money too.

Everyone has to pay taxes, which means that jobs dealing with taxes are in high demand. If taxes interest you, why don’t you find a job with the IRS?

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