What is a Miscellaneous Itemized Deduction? Well scientists have been debating this question for centuries and have reached a consensus – we don’t know, consult with your tax preparer.
Well, a misceallanous itemized deduction is a deductible item that doesn’t fit in the traditional medical, tax, interest or charity catagories (hence the term miscellaneous). Some items have to be reduced by 2% of your income, some don’t.
Items in the reduced area include:
Union Dues, Investment Expenses, Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses (another topic all by itself), tax preparation (my fee), Safe Deposit Box, Job Hunting Expenses, and other. Other can be some legal expenses used to protect your property or income (not setting up a living trust, but certain property settlements in a divorce, and other fees that assist in the generation and protecton of income(this is not an exclusive list-items probably should be judged on an item by item basis).
Items not reduced by the 2% include:
Various trust and estate expenses, brush clearing (don’t ask me why), gambling losses to the extent of winnings and other (?). See this article and IRS website for further confusion:
http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/taxes/miscellaneous-itemized-deductions-9547/