How should I handle the scenario when the interest amount provided by the bank is less than the maintenance fee charged by the bank?

[vabhijit]

My wife had foreign bank interest income in 2017. However, the interest rate had dropped considerably from 2016 and the total interest amount was actually less than the maintenance fee charged by the bank. Can I include the maintenance fee as a loss someplace? It seems weird to pay tax on the interest, when we actually lost money (due to the maintenance fee)

[PatriciaV · Accepted solution]

Yes, you may report maintenance fees as Investment Expenses on Schedule A (Itemized Deductions).

The easiest way to find this section of TurboTax is to open your return and use the Search box at the top right side of the TurboTax header. Click on the magnifying glass, type in "investment expenses", hit Enter, and click on "jump to investment expenses" to go directly to beginning of this topic.

Or go to Tools >> Topic Search. Type in "investment expenses", then click the topic in the list to go directly to the start of this section.

(If you are using the mobile app and don't have Tools on your screen, try logging into TurboTax from a laptop or desktop browser.)

Investment expenses are a miscellaneous itemized deduction. This means they are deductible only if and to the extent they, along with your other miscellaneous deductions (if any), exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income.