HobNobMurfreesboro Gets Tax Advice from Jason Jones, CPA in Murfreesboro, TN

Murfreesboro, TN, July 16, 2009 --(PR.com)-- With the current tough economic times, many taxpayers are mass-emailing resumes through sites like Careerbuilder, attending career fairs and meeting with countless recruiters in any effort to secure a new position.

One piece of fortunate news for those in the job market is that they may be able to take a tax deduction for their job searching expenses, as recently noted by the IRS.

Below are six of the biggest things the IRS wants you to know about deducting costs related to your job search:

To be able to deduct job search costs, the expenses must be spent on a search in your current occupation or field. You cannot deduct the expenses if you’re looking for a new occupation.

If you have to pay any fees to an employment agency while looking in your present occupation, those fees are deductible. However, be careful that should the new employer reimburse you those fees after the end of the year, because they’re taxable income if deducted on the previous year’s return.

Postage rates increasing on those mailed-out resumes? Good news, the cost of the stamps is deductible.

If you’re traveling while trying to find that new job, make sure to keep a record of the mileage you’re driving. Those miles are tax deductible assuming you’re looking for a new job and not just driving for personal reasons.

You cannot deduct expenses if there’s been a substantial break between the end of your last job and the time you begin looking for a new one.

Finally, if this is your first time looking for a job, the expenses also are not deductible.

For more information about job search expenses, feel free to contact Jason Jones, CPA at 615-962-7413.

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