Can I deduct civil defense lawyer fees for a matter where I'm named personally but occurred while employed by my former employer who is out of business?

[levisncap89 · Accepted solution]

No. Legal fees are only deductible in instances where they are incurred for the purposes of:

producing or collecting taxable income, or;

helping to determine, collect or obtain a refund of any tax.

Personal legal fees can not be deducted, sorry.

[DS30]

It depends -

The IRS basic rule is that you can deduct attorney's fees you pay to:

• produce or collect taxable income, or
• help determine, collect, or obtain a refund of any tax.

Simply put, you can take a deduction if you need an attorney's help to make money you’ll have to pay tax on; or if an attorney helps you with a tax matter, like representing you in an IRS audit.