First off, personal expenses are not a tax deduction. A personal expense is one that is not required by your employer. Some personal expenses like your internet and cell phone are part business and personal. You’ll need to determine what the percentage is of your business use is. One question you should ask yourself in order to determine whether an expense is deductible would be “If I didn’t have this job, would I be incurring this expense?” another one would be “Do the requirements of my job require me to incur this expense.”.
If you’re looking for some fun reading, travel expenses are explained in IRS Publication 463. Basically you have travel expenses while on a work-related trip. Commuting to your job is not a deductible expense even if you have to fly to an out of town base to do your job. Crash-pads are generally not deductible either unless you can show that your are on a temporary assignment.
Understand that just because an expense is listed below, that does not mean it’s necessarily deductible. It is up to you to determine that so that you can provide the facts to claim these deductions.
Expenses must be ordinary and necessary for your line of work.
An ordinary expense is one that is commonly incurred in your profession. One example of an ordinary expense for pilots and flight attendants would be your uniforms.
A necessary expense is one that is appropriate and helpful while performing your job. For example, a pilot would need sunglasses to see correctly, a flight attendant may wear support hose.
Last of all, a deductible expense can not be personal. A wristwatch is not deductible for a pilot, makeup really isn’t a justifiable deduction for a flight attendant.
With that all said, here’s a list of possible deductions you may consider. You’re welcome to download this list.
Only Noncommuting and Nonovernight Transportation Related Expenses
- Bus Fare
- Car Rental
- Parking Fee
- Taxi
- Toll
- Train Fare
- Trip Pass
- Other
Travel Expenses You Paid for While Away From Your Tax Home
- ATM Fees on Overnight
- Check Cashing Fee on Overnight
- Internet Access Fee on Overnight
- Tip for Van Driver (Airport/Hotel Transportation)
- Washing Clothes on Overnight
- Other
Job Searching Expenses in Your Present Line of Work
- Application Fee
- Car rental for interview
- Interview prep fee
- Lodging for interview
- Other interview realted costs
- Suit for interview
- Website subscription for job search
- Other
Type Rating Expenses
- Lodging for type-rating (receipt always required)
- Other type-rating related costs
- Rental car for type-rating
- Type rating fee
- Other
Other Training Related Expenses
- Books for training
- Lodging for training
- Other
Uniform Purchase Expenses
- Belt
- Blouse
- Boots
- Coat
- Dress
- Epaulets
- Gloves
- Hat
- Jacket
- Pants
- Scarf
- Serving Garment
- Shirts
- Shoes
- Skirt
- Wings
- Other
Uniform Upkeep
- Alterations
- Drycleaning
- Home Laundering
- Shoe Repair
- Shoe Shines
- Other
- Alarm Clock
- Calculator
- Cockpit Keys
- Cockpit Supplies, Maps, etc.
- Company business cards
- Crew ID Holder
- Crew ID Tag
- Curling Iron
- Flashlight
- Flashlight Batteries
- Foreign Visa
- Hair Dryer
- Headset/Earpiece
- International Currency Converter
- International Voltage Converter
- Iron (Portable)
- Jepp Binders
- Jepp Inserts
- Jetbridge Keys
- Logbook software
- Logbooks, (red & black books)
- Luggage (rollerboards, suitcase, etc.)
- Manual Replacement
- Passport/photo/renewal
- Personal Organizer
- Portable Security Device
- Portable Smoke Detector
- Sunglasses
- Wheels for Luggage
- Other
Telephone
- Answering Machine
- Cell phone purchase
- Cell Phone Usage Fee (Monthly Bill)
- Company copy/fax costs
- Company phone/mailing costs
- Computer Printer Supplies
- Internet Fee (Monthly Bill)
- Other
Services
- Bid Service
- Logbook Service
- Other
Professional Publications
- Foreign Language Expense
- Profession-related magazine
- Profession-related website subscription
- Other
Profession-Related Fees
- Drug Testing Fees
- Dues for Professional Organizations
- FAA Medical Exam
- Loss of Licence Insurance (pre-tax only)
- Union Dues
- Union Intitiation Fees
FFDO Related Expenses
- Ammunition
- Carrying Case
- Clips
- Document Holder
- FFDO Lodgin Expenses
- FFDO Membersips
- FFDO Publications
- Holster
- Holster Belt
- Medical
- Range Fees
- Training Costs
- Weapon
- Other