Deducting bar exam expenses

I'm wondering where is the best place to enter information related to Bar Review and Bar Exam expenses, which I had to do for my job. Does anyone have an idea? Thanks.

posted

You don't enter them because they're not deductible.

Fees to enter a new profession are not deductible. From IRS Publication 529:

"Professional Accreditation Fees

You cannot 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."

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p529/ar02.html#en_US_publink100027003

Note that it doesn't matter that you don't actually enter the new profession. For example, an individual working as an accountant in a manufacturing firm could not deduct the CPA exam and CPA licenses costs, even though they never intended to practice separately as a CPA.