Peace Officer Deductions

Good evening!  I have several clients that are peace officers, and have recently inquired about what they can write off or claim as deductions.  Itemized deductions are claimed on Form Schedule A of the Internal Revenue Service Individual Tax Return.  However, the miscellaneous deductions are subject to a 2% floor of Adjusted Gross Income.  In other words, if your AGI is $100,000, then $2,000 is what the IRS expects you to pay out of pocket for your work expenses.  Anything above the $2,000 counts towards your itemized deductions.

 Here is a list of what you can and cannot deduct on your taxes:

DEDUCTIBLE:
Union Dues
Other Association Dues (i.e. Fraternal Order of Police)
Uniforms and Upkeep, including alterations, repairs, gloves, hat, rain gear, jackets, etc
Uniform cleaning
Materials, supplies, books
Seminars related to the job
Guns and Equipment, including ammunition, baton, vest, cleaning equipment, ear protectors, goggles, polish, safety glasses, keepers, ID case, grips, GPS, maps, secondary gun, knives, holsters
Telephone Expense:  partial expense based on a percentage of usage between work and personal, pagers, fax transmissions
Out of Town Travel:  hotel, airfare, meals, parking, taxi, bus, car rental, laundry service while away, parking, tips, train
Laptop Computers, unless the employer provides you with a computer at work (most do).  If you are required to take some work home, then you may be able to depreciate a portion of the computer based on percentage used for work.
Mileage:  only to a temporary work location such as the range, another police agency, training site, or range.  The mileage is calculated from the main employer to the secondary place of employment, not your home.  This includes travel for military duty since it is a secondary place of employment.  Hauling tools or instruments, such as a K-9, is not necessarily deductible either.  Adequate records must be kept.

NON-DEDUCTIBLE:
Home telephone service - never!  Even if you have to have one for work.  Well, so does everyone else....
Haircuts
Watches
Clothes such as business suits and ties - NO!  You cannot deduct this because it is not a specific uniform.  It is something you can wear away from work.
Gym - unless it is prescribed by a doctor
Commuting Expenses
Meals:  NOT DEDUCTIBLE!  I have seen this many times where employees in law enforcement are advised they can take a meal deduction.  I have seen some outrageous deductions. Meals consumed during hours of duty are NOT deductible.  There is a court ruling in Minnesota (Christey 1981, DCMN 48 AFTR 2d-5796), which allowed  a deduction unreimbursed meal expenses for state troopers.  The IRS issued a non-acquiesce decision, in that it will not allow this deduction for any other cases/agencies.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email or call me anytime!

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