Tax Time for Job Seekers
Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 12:47AM Last year was challenging for many people, especially those of you who were jobseekers for a lengthy period. Now, tax time has rolled around to remind you of those efforts in 2009. There are some changes in this year’s filing rules that may benefit you if you collected unemployment insurance last year. A number of costs associated with your job search, such as travel expenses and postage, may count toward your deductions if you itemize. There are caveats though. You have to be looking for a job in the same field as your last one and you can’t be a first time job seeker.
Recently, there have been some useful articles that address tax issues for unemployed folks. Hope they will point you in the right direction in advance of April 15th.
How Unemployment Affects Your Income Taxes from SFGate
Tax Tips for the Unemployed and Financially Distressed from the New York Times
Jobless Taxpayers May Be Missing Key Tax Breaks, Costing Themselves Money from CNN Money
Last but not least, this is right from the horse's mouth -- the horse being the IRS:
Miscellaneous Deductions 2009 Form 529 (Note: this is an Adobe Acrobat document)
If you are currently unemployed, keep in mind that this is a new tax year. Tax rules are constantly evolving and you never know what may be relevant in the future. Start your record keeping now, related to your job search activity, so that next year’s filing will be as painless and financially beneficial as possible!
Reader Comments (1)
Thanks--this is a very helpful post. I'm passing along those links to a couple friends who just switched jobs.