Tax Tips for Career Advancement

Tax Tips for Career Advancement

Do you want to make more money? Great! So does your silent partner. I'm talking about the partner who takes about a third of the money you make. The government realizes you can produce more tax revenue for them by advancing in your career. Therefore a number of regulations have been created that let you save money on your taxes when you invest in making more money for yourself and the government.

According to IRS publication 529, you can deduct certain expenses you have in looking for a new job in your present occupation, even if you do not end up getting a new job. However, you cannot deduct these expenses if:

1. You are looking for a job in a new occupation,
2. There was a substantial break between the ending of your last job and your looking for a new one, or
3. You are looking for a job for the first time.

The following are examples of job search expenses that can be deducted:

Employment and outplacement agency fees. You can deduct employment and outplacement agency fees you pay in looking for a new job in your present occupation.

Resume. You can deduct amounts you spend for typing, printing, and mailing copies of a resume to prospective employers if you are looking for a new job in your present occupation.

Travel and transportation expenses. If you travel to an area and, while there, you look for a new job in your present occupation, you may be able to deduct travel expenses to and from the area. You can deduct the travel expenses if the trip is primarily to look for a new job. The amount of time you spend on personal activity compared to the amount of time you spend in looking for work is important in determining whether the trip is primarily personal or is primarily to look for a new job.
Even if you cannot deduct the travel expenses to and from an area, you can deduct the expenses of looking for a new job in your present occupation while in the area.

If you use it to find a job in your present occupation, you can deduct the cost of resume posting services such as ResumeDirector. With ResumeDirector, you can enter your resume once and it is posted instantly on over 90 job sites including Monster, HotJobs, CareerBuilder, etc. Instead of spending the time researching lots of job sites (you can't deduct time you spend from your taxes), this is a much more efficient way of reaching lots of recruiters quickly. To find out about ResumeDirector, check out this link:
http://www.JobSearchInfo.com/rd.asp

Likewise, you can do the same with the ResumeArrow service. This site lets you get your resume sent by email to thousands of recrutiers in your industry and geographic location. To find out more about it, visit this web address:
http://www.jobsearchinformation.com/jsinf/dist.asp


Deducting Education Expenses

Do you feel you need further education to make more money in your current occupation? The IRS realizes further education often leads to increased income so they have provided regulations that let you save money when investing in education for yourself.

Subscriptions to magazines and journals related to your profession are also tax deductible since these can also help you make more money by having a better understanding of your business. We have found a site that lets you search for business and professional magazines. Check it out here:
http://www.jobsearchinformation.com/jsinf/mag.asp

To find out about the specific regulations for deducting education and other career-related expenses, take a look at IRS Publication #529. Follow the link below to view the guidelines in PDF format:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p529.pdf

Tax preparation services like H&R Block and Jackson-Hewitt can also advise you on deducting career advancement expenses from your taxes. Or you may wish to check out tax software like TurboTax which uses a computerized approach to help you discover expenses that can be deducted. To find out about TurboTax, check out this link:
http://www.jobsearchinformation.com/jsinf/taxsoft.asp


Keep in mind our web site has a wealth of information available on various job searching tools that can give you an edge in the current competitive job market:
http://www.jobsearchinfo.com

This article was provided by JobSearchInfo.com.  For additional career resources, please visit http://www.jobsearchinfo.com.

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