I work for the City of Saint Louis , Mo. I am a Mechanic, can I deduct the amount I spent on tools I need to do my job?

anthonysarkis — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 05:46:43 GMT

I am a mechanic for the City of St. Louis. Can I deduct the cost of the tools I purchased in 2016 that I need to do my job?

Yes, if you have to buy tools to do your job, that's an U...

DexterS — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 05:46:45 GMT

Yes, if you have to buy tools to do your job, that's an Unreimbursed Employee Business Expense.

This is part of Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions that have to exceed 2% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) in order to get a deduction.

You may not actually get a deduction if you don't have enough deductions to itemize.

In TurboTax Deluxe you enter Unreimbursed Employee Business Expense as follows:

Federal Taxes >> Deductions & Credits >> Select >> I'll choose what I work on >> Scroll down to >> Employment Expenses
Job-Related Expenses >> Select >> Start (See Screen shot)
Employment Expenses Related to a W-2 >> Did you have any of these expenses in 2016 for your W-2 income? >> Select >> Yes >> Select >> Continue

Complete the following screens to enter your tool expenses.