Tax deductions for RNs

Forum|Forum|11 months ago
September 29, 2025
1 reply
119 views

Are any of these tax deductible?:

Continuing education and training

RN license

Scrubs

Equipment (stethoscope, etc...)

Parking at facility of employment

Subscriptions

Anything I have forgotten?

Best answer by Hal_Al

Expert Reviewed

Q. Are any of the items, listed, tax deductions for RNs?

A. No. Regular W-2 employees are no longer (since 2018) allowed to deduct job expenses, including education.

Regular W-2 employees are not allowed to deduct job expenses, including any of the items you listed. If you're self employed, you can deduct expenses, as a business expense, on schedule C.

Deductions on the state return may be allowed in AL, AR, CA, HI, MN, NY or PA. If so, this will come up in the state interview, in TurboTax.

Even in the "old days" , job expenses were only a misc. itemized deduction. You only got to deduct that portion of your misc. itemized deductions that exceeded 2% of your AGI, and then only if your total itemized deductions exceeded the standard deduction (which was doubled under the 2018 tax law. . (2% rule explained: https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2902781-what-is-the-2-rule ).

For Continuing education and training: if the courses were taken at a recognized college or vocational school (educational institutions eligible to participate in the student aid programs administered by the Department of Education), you may be able to take the Lifetime Learning Credit (but not the more generous American Opportunity credit).

Hal_Al

Answer

Level 15

Expert Reviewed

Q. Are any of the items, listed, tax deductions for RNs?

A. No. Regular W-2 employees are no longer (since 2018) allowed to deduct job expenses, including education.

Regular W-2 employees are not allowed to deduct job expenses, including any of the items you listed. If you're self employed, you can deduct expenses, as a business expense, on schedule C.

Deductions on the state return may be allowed in AL, AR, CA, HI, MN, NY or PA. If so, this will come up in the state interview, in TurboTax.