I am a self employed attorney. I routinley pay court filing fees for my clients billing them for reimbursement. What is the best place to enter these types of expenses?

[jaredrmuir]

I guess I want to make sure these are off the top deductions since they are not really income but reimbursed expenses.

[Phillip1]

Since you are self employed (assuming that you are filing a schedule C) I would still enter the reimbursement payments as a portion of gross income and enter the corresponding expense in the proper category in the business income and expense section.

[jaredrmuir]

That is my question.  What is the proper category?  Right now I am entering it in the Other Miscellaneous Expenses category.  Are all expense categories equal?  Am I still paying tax on this filing fee amount in any way?  Theoretically I could have my clients pay these expenses directly and I would not have the increase in income to report.  I pay roughly $25k each year in filing fees.
Thanks,

[Phillip1]

Other Miscellaneous Expenses works fine. You will not be paying tax on this because you will be treating the income as an expense as well - the effect to your taxable income is neutral. From a tax standpoint, having your clients pay the fees will not make a difference. However, having the clients pay the fee may make your life easier from an operational standpoint.