I had expenses for a legal defense of criminal charges in 2016. If convicted I would have been in breach of my employment agreement. Are the lawyer fees deductible?

[bwa · Accepted solution]

 Legal fees are generally not deductible. There are two significant exceptions

• Legal fees are deductible if incurred to determine or collect any tax liability.
• Legal fees are deductible if the suit is to secure taxable income.

Because of those criteria, your legal fees would not be deductible.

(Example:  legal fees for a dui charge are not deductible even if losing would result in your loss of employment as a truck driver.)