I have a large amount of un-reimbursed expenses from a company that went out of business. Can I deduct these expenses? Where and how?

[AnnetteB · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can deduct your unreimbursed employee expenses using Form 2106 if they were from a company that you worked for and received a W-2.

One important thing to know about Form 2106 is that you must also be using Schedule A and claiming itemized deductions (not the standard deduction) before it may affect the bottom line of your tax return.  This means that you could enter all the necessary information into your return to claim the expenses, but if you are using the standard deduction then your refund/balance due would not change. 

To go to the section of TurboTax to enter any unreimbursed employee expenses for Form 2106, use these steps:

• On the top row of the TurboTax online screen, click on Search (or for CD/downloaded TurboTax locate the search box in the upper right corner)

• This opens a box where you can type in “2106” (be sure to enter exactly as shown here) and click the magnifying glass (or for CD/downloaded TurboTax, click Find)

• The search results will give you an option to “Jump to 2106”

• Click on the blue “Jump to 2106” link

If you are referring to expenses related to a self-employment business, you would deduct those as part of your Schedule C Business Income and Expenses.