ToddL99
Expert Alumni

Deductions & credits

Unfortunately you cannot deduct the legal fees for terminating a timeshare used for personal-use. If this had been an active rental property, you may be able to deduct some of the legal costs. 

 

As a general rule, you can only deduct legal fees that were incurred in generating taxable income (see the following examples). 

 

Legal Fees you can deduct:

  • Court costs and attorney fees related to either doing or keeping your job, including back pay, injury to reputation, and unlawful discrimination claims
  • Costs of collecting taxable alimony or arranging details of alimony payments
  • Fees for tax advice related to a divorce, if the bill specifies how much is for tax advice. You cannot deduct any other legal fees related to a divorce or child support since they are personal expenses not related to taxable income.
  • Fees for personal injury actions where you recover taxable damages
  • Estate tax planning fees related to tax planning or income-producing property
  • Costs of collecting taxable Social Security benefits
  •  Fees to recover income-producing property such as stocks or bonds loaned as collateral