Publication 529
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027031You cannot deduct the following expenses.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027032
- Adoption expenses.
- Broker's commissions that you paid in connection with your
IRA or other investment property.
- Burial or funeral expenses, including the cost of a cemetery
lot.
- Campaign expenses.
- Capital expenses.
- Check-writing fees.
- Club dues.
- Commuting expenses.
- Fees and licenses, such as car licenses, marriage licenses,
and dog tags.
- Fines and penalties, such as parking tickets.
- Health spa expenses.
- Hobby losses—but see
Hobby expenses, earlier.
- Home repairs, insurance, and rent.
- Home security system.
- Illegal bribes and kickbacks—see
Bribes and kickbacks
in chapter 11 of Publication 535.
- Investment-related seminars.
- Life insurance premiums.
- Lobbying expenses.
- Losses from the sale of your home, furniture, personal car,
etc.
- Lost or misplaced cash or property.
- Lunches with co-workers.
- Meals while working late.
- Medical expenses as business expenses other than medical examinations
required by your employer.
- Personal disability insurance premiums.
- Personal legal expenses.
- Personal, living, or family expenses.
- Political contributions.
- Professional accreditation fees.
- Professional reputation, expenses to improve.
- Relief fund contributions.
- Residential telephone line.
- Stockholders' meeting, expenses of attending.
- Tax-exempt income, expenses of earning or collecting.
- The value of wages never received or lost vacation time.
- Travel expenses for another individual.
- Voluntary unemployment benefit fund contributions.
- Wristwatches.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027033You cannot deduct the expenses of adopting a child but you may
be able to take a credit for those expenses. For details, see Form 8839,
Qualified Adoption Expenses.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027034You cannot deduct campaign expenses of a candidate for any office,
even if the candidate is running for reelection to the office. These include
qualification and registration fees for primary elections.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027035You cannot deduct legal fees paid to defend charges that arise
from participation in a political campaign.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027036You cannot currently deduct amounts paid to buy property that
has a useful life substantially beyond the tax year or amounts paid to increase
the value or prolong the life of property. If you use such property in your
work, you may be able to take a depreciation deduction. See Publication 946. If
the property is a car used in your work, also see Publication 463.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027037If you have a personal checking account, you cannot deduct fees
charged by the bank for the privilege of writing checks, even if the account
pays interest.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027038Generally, you cannot deduct the cost of membership in any club
organized for business, pleasure, recreation, or other social purpose. This
includes business, social, athletic, luncheon, sporting, airline, hotel, golf,
and country clubs.
You cannot deduct dues paid to an organization if one of its
main purposes is to:
- Conduct entertainment activities for members or their guests,
or
- Provide members or their guests with access to entertainment
facilities.
Dues paid to airline, hotel, and luncheon clubs are not deductible.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027039You cannot deduct commuting expenses (the cost of transportation
between your home and your main or regular place of work). If you haul tools,
instruments, or other items in your car to and from work, you can deduct only
the additional cost of hauling the items, such as the rent on a trailer to carry
the items.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027040You cannot deduct fines or penalties you pay to a governmental
unit for violating a law. This includes an amount paid in settlement of your
actual or potential liability for a fine or penalty (civil or criminal). Fines
or penalties include parking tickets, tax penalties, and penalties deducted from
teachers' paychecks after an illegal strike.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027041You cannot deduct health spa expenses, even if there is a job
requirement to stay in excellent physical condition, such as might be required
of a law enforcement officer.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027042You cannot deduct the cost of a home security system as a miscellaneous
deduction. However, you may be able to claim a deduction for a home security
system as a business expense if you have a home office. See
Home Office
under
Unreimbursed Employee Expenses,
earlier, and Publication 587.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027043You cannot deduct any expenses for attending a convention, seminar,
or similar meeting for investment purposes.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027044You cannot deduct premiums you pay on your life insurance. You
may be able to deduct, as alimony, premiums you pay on life insurance policies
assigned to your former spouse. See Publication 504, Divorced or Separated
Individuals, for information on alimony.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027045You generally cannot deduct amounts paid or incurred for lobbying
expenses. These include expenses to:
- Influence legislation,
- Participate, or intervene, in any political campaign for,
or against, any candidate for public office,
- Attempt to influence the general public, or segments of the
public, about elections, legislative matters, or referendums, or
- Communicate directly with covered executive branch officials
in any attempt to influence the official actions or positions of those
officials.
Lobbying expenses also include any amounts paid or incurred for
research, preparation, planning, or coordination of any of these activities.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027046A covered executive branch official, for the purpose of (4) above,
is any of the following officials.
- The President.
- The Vice President.
- Any officer or employee of the White House Office of the Executive
Office of the President, and the two most senior level officers of each of the
other agencies in the Executive Office.
- Any individual serving in a position in Level I of the Executive
Schedule under section 5312 of Title 5, United States Code, any other individual
designated by the President as having Cabinet-level status, and any immediate
deputy of one of these individuals.
If a tax-exempt organization notifies you that part of the dues
or other amounts you pay to the organization are used to pay nondeductible
lobbying expenses, you cannot deduct that part.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027048You can deduct certain lobbying expenses if they are ordinary
and necessary expenses of carrying on your trade or business.
- You can deduct expenses for attempting to influence the legislation
of any local council or similar governing body (local legislation). An Indian
tribal government is considered a local council or similar governing body.
- You can deduct in-house expenses for influencing legislation
or communicating directly with a covered executive branch official if the
expenses for the tax year are not more than $2,000 (not counting overhead
expenses).
- If you are a professional lobbyist, you can deduct the expenses
you incur in the trade or business of lobbying on behalf of another person.
Payments by the other person to you for lobbying activities cannot be deducted.
You cannot deduct a loss based on the mere disappearance of money
or property. However, an accidental loss or disappearance of property can
qualify as a casualty if it results from an identifiable event that is sudden,
unexpected, or unusual. See Publication 547.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027050A car door is accidentally slammed on your hand, breaking the
setting of your diamond ring. The diamond falls from the ring and is never
found. The loss of the diamond is a casualty.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027051You cannot deduct the expenses of lunches with co-workers, except
while traveling away from home on business. See Publication 463 for information
on deductible expenses while traveling away from home.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027052You cannot deduct the cost of meals while working late. However,
you may be able to claim a deduction if the cost of the meals is a deductible
entertainment expense, or if you are traveling away from home. See Publication
463 for information on deductible entertainment expenses and expenses while
traveling away from home.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027053You cannot deduct personal legal expenses such as those for the
following.
- Custody of children.
- Breach of promise to marry suit.
- Civil or criminal charges resulting from a personal relationship.
- Damages for personal injury (except certain whistleblower
claims and unlawful discrimination claims), for more information about unlawful
discrimination claims, see
Deductions Subject to the 2% Limit, earlier.
- Preparation of a title (or defense or perfection of a title).
- Preparation of a will.
- Property claims or property settlement in a divorce.
You cannot deduct these expenses even if a result of the legal
proceeding is the loss of income-producing property.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027054You cannot deduct contributions made to a political candidate,
a campaign committee, or a newsletter fund. Advertisements in convention
bulletins and admissions to dinners or programs that benefit a political party
or political candidate are not deductible.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027055You cannot deduct professional accreditation fees such as the
following.
- Accounting certificate fees paid for the initial right to
practice accounting.
- Bar exam fees and incidental expenses in securing initial
admission to the bar.
- Medical and dental license fees paid to get initial licensing.
You cannot deduct expenses of radio and TV appearances to increase
your personal prestige or establish your professional reputation.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027057You cannot deduct contributions paid to a private plan that pays
benefits to any covered employee who cannot work because of any injury or
illness not related to the job.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027058You cannot deduct any charge (including taxes) for basic local
telephone service for the first telephone line to your residence, even if it is
used in a trade or business.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027059You cannot deduct transportation and other expenses you pay to
attend stockholders' meetings of companies in which you own stock but have no
other interest. You cannot deduct these expenses even if you are attending the
meeting to get information that would be useful in making further investments.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027060You cannot deduct expenses to produce tax-exempt income. You
cannot deduct interest on a debt incurred or continued to buy or carry
tax-exempt securities.
If you have expenses to produce both taxable and tax-exempt income,
but you cannot identify the expenses that produce each type of income, you must
divide the expenses based on the amount of each type of income to determine the
amount that you can deduct.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027061During the year, you received taxable interest of $4,800 and
tax-exempt interest of $1,200. In earning this income, you had total expenses of
$500 during the year. You cannot identify the amount of each expense item that
is for each income item. Therefore, 80% ($4,800/$6,000) of the expense is for
the taxable interest and 20% ($1,200/$6,000) is for the tax-exempt interest. You
can deduct, subject to the 2% limit, expenses of $400 (80% of $500).
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027062You generally cannot deduct travel expenses you pay or incur
for a spouse, dependent, or other individual who accompanies you (or your
employee) on personal or business travel. See Publication 463 for more
information on deductible travel expenses.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027063You cannot deduct voluntary unemployment benefit fund contributions
you make to a union fund or a private fund. However, you can deduct
contributions as taxes if state law requires you to make them to a state
unemployment fund that covers you for the loss of wages from unemployment caused
by business conditions.
taxmap/pubs/p529-002.htm#en_us_publink100027064
You cannot deduct the cost of a wristwatch, even if there is a job requirement
that you know the correct time to properly perform your duties.
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