It sounds like you're an employee. You need to look at the code or talk to an accountant, but the way I read it the answer is "yes" and "probably not". Books that are necessary for your work come under the "Employer Not Supplied" category along with work boots and ear plugs, but that category is subject to a threshold (it seems like it is 3-4% of earnings) so you'd have to spend over that threshold to start deducting. When I was working for wages I never made the cut.
If the company buys them then they are absolutely deductable to the company.
I asked my boss the same question once (after hearing that people in another engineering department DID get their books bought by the company) and he said "we make the mechanics bring their own tools - why should engineers be any different?
Yes, if you buy them for your work, regardless if you are an employee or not, they are tax deductible.
Better financially (and professionally) for your employer to pay for them or reimburse you for them as if you are in the 30% tax bracket you will only realize $30 per every $100 you spend.
Greg Lamberson, BS, MBA
Consultant - Upstream Energy
Website:
If your employer will not pay for code books which you are required to use in your work.... then your best bet is to rather spend that money in gas dollars driving to interviews with other companies...
BJC - come on, doing your own taxes is not that difficult - for an engineer who nearly minored in mathematics, it is relatively simple. The hardest part is making sense of the byzantine tax codes. TurboTax makes it easier. Even when I was a landlord I was able to handle it myself. If you own your own business than yes, hire the accountant and deduct the expense. But make sure you review even his work as accountants make mistakes too...
"The hardest part is making sense of the byzantine tax codes."
Exactly right. That what I pay the guy to do.
I have done mine, spending lots of time etc. etc. When I get them done and get "X" dollars back I take them to the accountant and get "X+ N" back.
I always get more than he cost me, and it a deduction on next years taxes.
If you think PE test are bad read up on the test a CPA has to take.
Taxes for most folks is a heck of a lot simpler than engineering. Spend an evening to two purusing J.K. Lasser's or similar reference book, and you know about as much as most tax preparers (. Throw in turbo tax and for less than $75 you know exactly what you're doing, AND you'll almost automatically know the answers to questions such as the one posed above.
The answer to the question, BTW is:
The expenses mentioned are deductable IF:
(a) you itemize, and
(b) your total job and professional related expenses exceed 2% of your Adjusted Gross Income.
Assuming both of the above are true, you can deduct those expenses which exceed the 2% AGI floor.
I quit going to an accountant for my taxes when I realized he was pulling up a "commercial" version of turbo tax to do my taxes.
I went to an accountant one time after that when I had an unusual event happen. That was worth the money spent, but the accountant said my taxes were so easy, because all the info I gave him was put together so well (prepared by using turbo tax).
If your a regular Joe Shmoe engineer, you should be able to handle something like turbotax.
My only caution would be, it's kind of like travelling. If you are going from Chicago to Dallas for a weekend, I'd book it online; but if you are making an extended trip through Europe with multiple overnight stays, tours, connections, etc. - I'd go through a travel agent.
It depends on how complicated your taxes are. I used to use TurboTax and love it, it's a great tool. I also use Quicken for accounting. But TurboTax is software that asks you a set menu of questions - good questions and detailed, but in some cases it's knowing not only the answers but the ramifications that can be a problem. Also, TurboTax gives you a pretty middle of the road approach. If you want to push the tax avoidance (obviously not edging into tax evasion), then a certified professional can help you push that envelope a little more than TurboTax.
I now use an accountant due to added complexities. I'm not advocating either way, just that personal circumstances should dictate the decision to use a canned software or a professional.
Greg Lamberson, BS, MBA
Consultant - Upstream Energy
Website:
Greg,
I couldnt agree with you more.
When I stopped going to the accountant, and started using turbotax, I saw no difference in taxes paid.
When I went to an accountant for the one time event after using turbotax, he did not see any other deductions to go after, even with our interview.
If your a regular Joe, turbotax should work for you, if you really want to push the envelope, perhaps an accountant will be able to help.
(by the way I switched accountants for that one time event).
A related item- PE registration fees not reimbursed by the employer- again, they are deductible but only if they get above a certain amount, which they haven't for me.
On the original issue- I don't think the comparison with the mechanic is fair. Yes, they may furnish their own tools (ie, hand tools). But high quality tools last for ages, too; you don't have to replace them every 3 years because they're outdated. And the engine analyszers and stuff like that, they don't have to furnish.
My concern with that is not so much the money (they could just increase your pay by $XXXX and make it all even out). But rather it is a business plan that encourages you to either use outdated sources or violate copyrights- it just sounds like a terrible way to do business.
