I was paid $6600 for an acting. $600 of this was to cover the agency fee. Got a W-2 for all $6600 w/ no federal withholding. How do we report expenses for agency fee?

[rjs · Accepted solution]

UPDATE: The following answer applies to 2017 and earlier. For 2018 through 2025, under the new tax law, there is no way for an employee (who gets a W-2) to claim a tax deduction for the agency fee.

You can enter the agency fee as a job-related expense, but it might not make any difference in your taxes. Job-related expenses are a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% of AGI limitation. That means that 2% of your AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) is subtracted from your total miscellaneous itemized deductions. Only the remaining amount is deductible. In addition, the deduction will not have any tax benefit unless your total itemized deductions are more than your standard deduction.

Here's how to enter job-related expenses in TurboTax.

• Click the Federal Taxes tab. (In TurboTax Home & Business click the Personal Tab.)
• Click Deductions & Credits.
• Click "I'll choose what I work on" or "Jump to a full list."
• On the screen "Your 2016 Deductions & Credits," scroll down to the Employment Expenses section.
• Click the Start, Update, or Revisit button for Job-Related Expenses.

[AliActor]

I think this is old tax law, pre-2018. Can you update the response for the new tax law?

[ThomasM125]

The new law is what is preventing you from deducting the agency fee. @rjs is correct, the fee would be considered a miscellaneous itemized deduction, which is not allowed on a 2019 federal tax return for all but a few unique tax filers.

[rjs]

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@AliActor wrote:

I think this is old tax law, pre-2018. Can you update the response for the new tax law?

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I added an update to my original post. For 2018 through 2025 there is no way for an employee (who gets a W-2) to claim a tax deduction for the agency fee.