I started a lawsuit in 2017 for unpaid wages and defamation. Part of the reason I pursued it is because wage claims were a tax deduction. I racked up huge legal bills in 2017, but my settlement didn't come until 2018. Because of that, I didn't pay the bill until 2018. Given the new law that seems to disallow writing off wage claims, I'm wondering if - since the legal work I was charged for was incurred in 2017 - I can still write it off even though I didn't pay the bill until 2018? Not sure if this would involve revising my 2017 return or if I can just make a notation on my 2018 return.
I imagine there must be a way to take the deduction, as there are likely people with millions in legal fees accumulated over many years before the latest tax act was enacted. All of those people would be stuck with a huge legal bill when the law at the time allowed wage claim deductions.
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IRS Publication 529 at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p529.pdf on page 5 states:
You can deduct legal fees related to doing or keeping your job.
So I'm unclear myself if this is actually deductible. You didn't sue to keep your job, or to do your job. The job was already done, and you sued to get paid for doing it. You should talk with a tax attorney (not a CPA) in your state on this. I myself say you should be able to deduct it. But by my reading of pub 529, the "letter of the law" says you can't. I hope you can.
It would be on your 2018 tax return.
However, that deduction might not be gone. There is still a valid "above the line" deduction for expenses for "discrimination" lawsuits. MANY employer lawsuits qualify for that. It may be a good idea to sit down with a good tax professional (or possibly your attorney) that can look at the exact facts-and-circumstances of your lawsuit, to determine if it qualifies under this "discrimination" provision.
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