Question: My daughter graduated from college in the spring and started
her first job last month. She spent a lot of money on travel and other
costs for her job search over the past few months. Are those expenses
tax-deductible?
Answer: Job search expenses for a first job
aren’t tax-deductible, but your daughter may be able to get a tax break
if she had to move to take the new job. To qualify to deduct moving
expenses, your new job must be at least 50 miles farther from your home
than the old job was; a first job must be at least 50 miles from your
current home. Your daughter can deduct the cost of hiring movers to pack
and transport her possessions or the cost of renting a moving van. She
can also deduct expenses for traveling to her new home, including 23.5
cents per mile, if she drove, plus lodging (but not meals), and the cost
of storing her possessions for up to 30 days between moving and
delivery.
She doesn’t need to itemize deductions on her tax return
to take this break, but she’ll need to submit Form 3903 when she files
her 2014 taxes.
Your daughter may qualify to deduct job search
expenses in addition to moving if she later switches jobs. To qualify,
she must be looking for a job in the line of work she’s already in,
whether or not she gets the job. She can deduct the cost of printing and
mailing résumés and posting on job search sites, plus any employment-
and outplacement-agency fees. Travel expenses are deductible if the
purpose of the trip is primarily to search for a job (including 56 cents
per mile in 2014, if you drive, plus the cost of parking and tolls).
Job-search
expenses are a miscellaneous itemized deduction (like employee business
expenses and investment-related expenses), and they are deductible only
if you itemize and only to the extent that all of your miscellaneous
write-offs exceed 2 percent of your adjusted gross income.
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