Can an attorney's fee be deducted?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 3, 2019
2 replies
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Hi- I am wondering if an attorney's fees can be deducted as a result of a, "forced" new employment contract my employer had provided to the whole department? I was on year two of a three year contract before being given this new contract. Would this fall under the definition of an attorney fee associated with keeping your current job? Thank you.

TurboTax Self Employed Online

Anonymous

Yes, legal fees may be deductible on Form 1040, Schedule A, Line 28.

Personal legal bills also fall into the “other miscellaneous deductions” category. You can deduct your legal fees as long as the lawyer is pursuing taxable income on your behalf, or is working on a determination, collection, or refund of any tax. For example, if you’re going through a divorce and pay $1,000 to a lawyer who is working to secure alimony for you, you may deduct the $1,000. However, hiring a lawyer to gain custody of a child is not deductible.

You may also deduct legal expenses incurred while doing or working to keep your job. For instance, if you’re in a legal dispute with your company over unlawful termination, you could deduct the expenses as long as you’ve paid the fees you’re deducting and you’re deducting them in the year you paid them.

Legal deductions are limited to 2% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). For instance, if your adjusted gross income is $40,000, your deduction would be limited to $800 – two percent of $40,000.

To deduct certain legal fees related to taxable income:

Type legal expenses, deduction in the search or find box, click search.
Click on Jump to legal expenses, deduction.
Continue with the onscreen questions.

Related Information:

j-lacorazzaAuthor

Level 2

Thank you for your response. Can the fees be deducted in my particular scenario? Thank you.

Iammak

Level 2

Has this changed? I found the link but when I click on 'Jump to legal expenses, deduction', nothing happens.

macuser_22

Alumni - Champ

@Iammak wrote:

Has this changed? I found the link but when I click on 'Jump to legal expenses, deduction', nothing happens.

Yes - see my post right above yours. There have been MANY tax law changes since this thread started several years ago.

Please post a NEW question with *your* details.

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**