Never Deduct These 9 Expenses – But You Can Write Off Some Related Costs Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. How We Make Money
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. SHARE: Hero Images/Getty Images December 17, 2019 Libby Wells covers banking and deposit products. She has more than 30 years’ experience as a writer and editor for newspapers, magazines and online publications. Megan Harney Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by and edited by , who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Our banking reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most — the best banks, latest rates, different types of accounts, money-saving tips and more — so you can feel confident as you’re managing your money. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. The new tax law that went into effect in 2018 nearly doubled the standard deductions. As a result, only 13.7 percent of taxpayers are expected to itemize expenses on their 2019 returns, according to the not-for-profit Tax Foundation. Prior to the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, nearly one-third of filers itemized expenses to reduce their taxable income. Many taxpayers may think they can itemize expenses that aren’t really deductible, such as over-the-counter medicines. There are , but if you try to claim illegitimate write-offs, you could end up paying the government interest and penalties. “This denial of deductions will also likely be reported to state income taxing authorities and could have state income tax implications,” says tax expert Francine J. Lipman, a professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Unless you have enough deductible expenses to surpass your standard deduction, you cannot itemize. The standard deductions for 2019 are $12,200 for single filers; $18,350 for heads of household; and $24,400 for married couples filing jointly. To help you avoid missteps, we’ve put together a list of expenses you might think you can claim but can’t. We also list related tax breaks that are legitimate. Here are nine expenses you can’t deduct, along with nine related expenses that are deductible for the 2019 tax year. 1 Over-the-counter medicines unless a doctor prescribes
Headache and cold remedies you buy at the pharmacy are not tax-deductible. Only medicines prescribed by a doctor, including insulin, are considered deductible. But you still can deduct over-the-counter kits to test for pregnancy and blood-sugar levels. And the IRS says moms get a tax deduction on breast-feeding supplies, including pumps and bottles. 2 Volunteer work unless you rack up mileage
You can’t claim the monetary value of the hours you spend volunteering for a nonprofit. Nor can you deduct the value of a project you create for charity, such as a poster or T-shirt. But you can deduct the miles you drive doing charity work at the rate of 14 cents per mile, unchanged from 2018. Keep good records of your miles logged for charity work. You also can claim unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses, such as poster boards and special markers you bought for the nonprofit’s poster project. Be sure to keep your receipts. It’s smart to have a that you can use exclusively for purchases tied to volunteer activities. 3 Landlines and cellphones unless business-related
If you still have a landline telephone at home, you can’t deduct the cost, even if you primarily use that phone for business. The IRS says the first hard-wired phone line in your home is considered a nondeductible personal expense. But you can deduct as a business expense the cost of business-related long-distance charges on that phone. And if you have a second landline phone specifically for business use, its full cost is deductible. Cellphones are a legitimate deductible expense if you’re self-employed and use the phone for business. It’s recommended that you obtain an itemized bill to prove it. However, the “unreimbursed business expense” deduction for using a personal cellphone for work has been eliminated. And if your employer provides you with a cellphone as part of your job, this could increase your taxable income. 4 Family pet unless it s a service animal
A little family dog can result in some big bills. It’s not unusual to hear of pet owners spending thousands of dollars for surgeries, X-rays and prescription medicines for their animals. But those expenses are not tax-deductible. However, the cost of buying, training and maintaining a guide dog or other service animal for someone who has a physical disability is tax-deductible. This generally includes any expenses incurred to maintain the animal — including for food, grooming and veterinary care — so that it can perform its duties. 5 Commuting costs unless it s for a temporary job
The cost of getting to and from work is not tax-deductible. Taking a bus, subway, taxi or driving your own vehicle to work is a personal expense, regardless of how far you have to travel. But you might be able to deduct some commuting costs if you work at two places in one day, whether or not it’s for the same employer. You also can deduct transportation expenses between your home and a temporary job that is expected to last one year or less. And if your home is your main workplace, you can deduct transportation expenses for going from your home to another work location in the same trade or business. 6 Social Security taxes unless you overpay
You fork over a lot of money each payday for FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes, which fund Social Security and Medicare benefits. FICA taxes are not deductible. But if you overpaid the tax, you can get a credit for FICA over-withholding. For 2019, the maximum in Social Security taxes is $8,239.80, an increase of $279 from 2018. The wage base limit for 2019 rises to $132,900, up $4,500 from 2018. You pay FICA taxes only on wages up to the limit. If you had more than one job and your combined earnings exceed the wage base limit, you might have overpaid FICA taxes, in which case you may be able to request a refund or a tax credit. 7 Plastic surgery unless medically necessary
Face-lifts, liposuction, electrolysis and other procedures done to enhance your appearance are not deductible medical expenses. But if your doctor says you need a nose job to treat respiratory problems, for example, it becomes a deductible medical expense. The IRS says you can deduct the cost of plastic surgery if it is necessary to improve or correct a deformity resulting from a congenital abnormality, an injury incurred in an accident, trauma or a disfiguring disease. 8 Cost of work wardrobe unless it s a uniform
Looking sharp at work rests totally on your shoulders. A U.S. Tax Court ruling in 2011 reaffirmed this tax law when a judge rejected a TV anchorwoman’s efforts to deduct tens of thousands of dollars in clothes she bought to wear on air. But you can deduct the cost of dry cleaning or laundering of business uniforms, because it’s attire you can’t wear anyplace but work. Also deductible are cleaning charges for nonprofit uniforms, such as an outfit required of hospital volunteers, or Boy Scout or Girl Scout troop leaders. Here, the costs of the uniform and its maintenance would be considered charitable deductions. 9 Summer camp for your kids unless it s day camp
When school lets out for the summer, working parents fret over what to do with the children while they’re at work. Some parents send their kids off to camp because it’s fun for the children and eases their child-care concerns. But sleepaway camps are not tax-deductible. However, if you decide to send the kids to a day camp during the hours you’re working or looking for a job, that expense could qualify for the child- and dependent-care credit. For one child, you can count up to $3,000 of expenses toward the credit for 2019. If you paid for the care of two or more dependents, the credit limit is $6,000. Your actual tax credit can be up to 35 percent of your qualifying expenses, depending on your income. Since it’s a credit, you can use it to offset your tax bill, dollar for dollar. If you’re getting a tax refund, consider where you should park it. Learn more
SHARE: Libby Wells covers banking and deposit products. She has more than 30 years’ experience as a writer and editor for newspapers, magazines and online publications. Megan Harney Related Articles