Bar exam expenses for already licensed US attorney?

[attorney-question]

Are bar exam expenses and prep deductible if you are already a licensed attorney (i.e. meeting minimal education requirements) and the expenses are related to expanding into additional jurisdictions?  It seems like under 26 CFR 1.162-5(c)(1) this may constitute maintaining or improving skills.

[Anonymous_]

See https://www.irs.gov/publications/p529#en_US_202012_publink10004499

Professional Accreditation Fees

You can't 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.

[Critter-3]

If you are a W- 2 employee then job-related expenses were eliminated as a federal deduction by the new tax laws that went into effect for your 2018 return and beyond.    If you are a W-2 employee you cannot deduct a home office on your federal return, nor can you deduct job-related mileage, etc.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4482873-which-federal-tax-deductions-have-been-suspended-by-tax-re...