According to the IRS, you will only be allowed to deduct your work clothes/uniform if:
-
the clothes are mandatory for your job and unsuitable for everyday wear (Determine which work clothes are necessary for your job but not suitable to wear outside of work. However, just buying clothes specifically for work and never wearing them at any other time isn't good enough. The IRS has accepted deductions for theatrical costumes, hard hats and other safety gear. Among the items that do not qualify are overalls, white dress shirts, and bibs even if required on the job site. For example, even though your company requires you to wear a suit each day, you cannot deduct their cost since you can wear the suits to weddings, job interviews and other occasions that don't relate to work)
-
you itemize your deductions on your return.
You would enter your uniform/work clothes in TurboTax under Federal Taxes>Deductions and Credits> I'll choose what I work on (or jump to full list)> scroll down to Employment Expenses> Job-related expenses (start/revisit/update). Use the TurboTax guide to
help you enter these expense.
- Enter your occupation information
- after about 6 to 10
question screens, you will get to a screen titled "Job-Related
Expenses" you can put this information here (see screenshot)
So if your
itemized deduction is below the standard deduction, TurboTax will still take the
larger standard deduction on your tax return. (Please note that if you have no additional itemized deductions or your deductions will not be larger than the standard deduction, do should not upgrade to TurboTax Deluxe)
For 2015, the
standard deduction starts at
$6,300 for Single,
$12,600 for Married
Filing Jointly, or Qualifying Widow(er) with dependent child,
$9,250 for Head of
Household,
$6,300 for Married
Filing Separately
For over 65 and/or
blind, add $1,250 for each instance (or add $1,550 each instance if single and
not a surviving spouse).
If you are able to
include additional itemized deductions (ie: for medical expenses over 10% of
AGI (7% if over 65), charitable donation, unreimbursed business expenses (over
2% AGI), etc), you may be able to increase your itemized deduction to be larger
than your standard deduction. TurboTax will guide you through this section and
will help you take the most deductions possible based on your specific
situation
For more
information about the various Schedule A deductions, please refer to this link:
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Tax-Deductions-and-Credits/What-Are-Itemized-Tax-Dedu...
