Today TaxMama® hears from Mike in the TaxQuips Forum, who has a common type of question. “I work in sales as an employee. May I itemize my clothing expenses and Mileage?”

Dear Mike,

First, let’s take the easy part of the question.

Clothing. You need to wear clothing in this society. We are not legally permitted to go around naked – much as we might like to. Besides, nudity might cost you sales. So, since you need to wear clothing anyway, there is no deduction for that.

Now, let’s look at mileage. The first thing you must do is to look at your company’s reimbursement policy for your mileage. If they reimburse salespeople, then you are required to submit your expense report to your company on a timely basis and get reimbursed.

If your expenses are higher than the company’s allowable reimbursements, track all your expenses. Track ALL your miles driven – total miles and business miles – and keep evidence of the mileage. (Note: Commuting miles are not deductible. That means, driving from home to office and back.)

Then you may use Form 2106 to report ALL your expenses. Deduct the reimbursements you receive from your company on line 7 of Form 2106.

Before you go to all this work to document and track your expenses, see if you can use itemized deductions in the first place. Typically, unless your unreimbursed expenses are over $10,000, and/or you own a home and pay mortgage interest…you might not have enough expenses to itemize. I know, it’s a shame, when it costs you so much to do your job.

Just in case, please read IRS Publication 463 for more details on business expenses

you can use, how to use them, and how to document the expenses.

And remember, you can find answers to all kinds of questions about job-related expenses and other tax and business issues, free. Where? Where else? At www.TaxMama.com.

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