My husband pays monthly dues directly to the union hall monthly. But, he also has dues directly deducted off his paycheck weekly. Are they both deductible?

[macuser_22 · Accepted solution]

Union dues are deductible as an itemized deduction reduced by 2% of AGI so for most taxpayers, unless you have a lot of miscellaneous deductions and itemize anyway, it does not matter if they are deductible or not.  For example if your AGI is $60,000 then 2% is $1,200 so only union dues more than that would be added to other itemized deductions.

Your itemized deductions must be more than the standard deduction to be of any benefit.

For 2016 the standard deductions are:

Single or filing Married Filing Separately - $6,300
Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow(er) - $12,600
Head of Household - $9,300

(If over 65 or blind add $1,250 - $1,550 if filing single or HOH)