Exactly where to Deduct Tax Preparation Costs

Where should really an person taxpayer deduct tax preparation costs? The obvious answer could be on Schedule A of Kind 1040 as a miscellaneous deduction. Are tax preparation costs deductible only on Schedule A for all taxpayers? Fortunately, the answer is no.

Deducting tax preparation fees on Schedule A will provide little or no advantage for most taxpayers mainly because the total miscellaneous deductions have to exceed two % of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income to supply any benefit. In addition, the taxpayer’s total itemized deductions need to ordinarily exceed the common deduction quantity to provide any tax advantage.

The IRS ruled in Rev. Rul. 92-29 that taxpayers might deduct tax preparation fees related to a enterprise, a farm, or rental and royalty income on the schedules exactly where the taxpayer reports such revenue.

A taxpayer who is self-employed might deduct the portion of the tax preparation charges related to the enterprise, including schedules such as depreciation schedules, on Schedule C of Type 1040 as a company expense. The tax preparation charges deducted on Schedule C save the taxpayer earnings tax and self-employment tax.

A taxpayer who is self-employed as a farmer would deduct the portion of the tax preparation fees related to the farm on Schedule F of Kind 1040. The tax preparation charges deducted on Schedule F save the taxpayer income tax and self-employment tax.


A taxpayer who has rental and/or royalty earnings reported on Schedule E of Form 1040 would deduct the portion of the tax preparation costs connected to the rental and/or royalty earnings on Schedule E. The tax preparation costs deducted on Schedule E save the taxpayer revenue tax. On the other hand, the tax preparation charges deducted on Schedule E do not save the taxpayer any self-employment tax due to the fact the rental and/or royalty income reported on Schedule E is not topic to self-employment tax.

A taxpayer could not deduct all of the tax preparation costs on Schedules C, E, and F of Form 1040. The tax preparer must present a statement to the taxpayer that indicates how substantially of the tax preparation charge was related to the taxpayer’s company, farm, and/or rental and/or royalty revenue. The taxpayer could deduct the remainder of the tax preparation fee only on Schedule A.

If the tax preparer does not give the taxpayer with a detailed statement showing how a lot of the tax preparation charge was for the taxpayer’s business, farm, and/or rental and/or royalty income, the taxpayer shoud ask the tax preparer for an itemized statement. If the tax preparer will not give an itemized statement, the taxpayer should really use a reasonable allocation. In that case, the taxpayer need to seriously take into consideration employing a diverse tax preparer next year.

tax preparation services Beaumont CA is an example. Assume that the taxpayer is self-employed and also owns rental true estate. The tax preparation charge for the taxpayer’s Form 1040 and connected schedules for 2005 was $600. The tax preparer states that of the $600 total charge, $300 was associated to the taxpayer’s business enterprise, $200 was related to the rental real estate, and the remainng $one hundred was associated to other components of the taxpayer’s revenue tax return. The taxpayer paid the $600 in February 2006.

On the taxpayer’s revenue tax return for 2006, the taxpayer may perhaps deduct the $600 tax preparation charge as follows: $300 on Schedule C, $200 on Schedule E, and $one hundred on Schedule A as a miscellaneous deduction.

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