Careers
Tax Breaks for Job Hunters
Your guide to deducting some of the costs of finding new employment.
By Kimberly Lankford, Contributing Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
October 28, 2008
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If you're searching for a new job in the same line of work, you can deduct from your taxes the fees that you pay to employment and outplacement agencies. Also deductible are travel expenses if the trip is primarily to look for a new job.
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Even if you need to drive just across town for a job interview, you can deduct your mileage -- the rate is 55 cents a mile for 2009. (For 2008, the rate was 58.5 cents a mile for travel on or after July 1, 2008; 50.5 cents per mile for the first half of the year.) You can also deduct the cost of printing and mailing résumés.
Write-offs related to a job search are considered miscellaneous itemized deductions and are deductible only if you itemize your deductions on your tax return (reported on Schedule A of your Form 1040). Only miscellaneous expenses that exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income are deductible. For more information, see IRS Publication 529, Miscellaneous Deductions.
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