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Taxpayers used to be able to deduct costs associated with preparing their tax returns if they itemized their deductions, but that tax break disappeared for most in 2018, after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) took effect.
Unless you're self-employed, taxpayers cannot deduct the expenses associated with tax preparation. Learn more about how the tax preparation deduction works and whether you're eligible for it.
Only the self-employed can claim a deduction for tax preparation fees in tax years 2018 through 2025. This means that if you own a business as a sole proprietor, you are eligible for this deduction, and can claim it on Schedule C.
Statutory employees can also continue to claim this expense on Schedule C. Statutory employees are effectively independent contractors, but they can be treated as employees for tax purposes. For example, they include:
Check with a tax professional if you think you might fall into one of these categories because the rules for who is eligible for a tax preparation fee deductible are complicated.
The next hurdle is determining exactly what portion of your tax preparation fees you can deduct. In general, the IRS will cover the following expenses:
You can also typically deduct legal and professional fees related to your business on Schedule C. However, you generally cannot deduct legal fees you pay to acquire business assets.
You might not be able to deduct the entire expense, however. An accountant might charge you $500 to prepare your tax return, but you can only claim the portion of the fee that’s attributable to preparing your Schedule C, E, or F—in other words, the business portion of your taxes. Everything else falls into the category of a personal miscellaneous expense, so it’s no longer tax-deductible.
If you're planning to deduct tax preparation costs and fees, you must do so in the same tax year in which you pay them.
Tax preparation fees are deductible on Schedules C, F, and E because they’re considered to be “ordinary and necessary” to running your business.
These fees are “legal and professional services” on Schedule C. That’s Line 17 in Part II of the schedule, labeled “Expenses.” They can additionally include anything you might have to spend to resolve a tax dispute with the IRS over your profit or loss from business.
Schedule F is “Profit or Loss From Farming.” Tax preparation fees fall into the category of “other expenses” on this form, which appears on Lines 32. The IRS wants you to break down what these expenses were for on the lettered lines. For example, you might enter things like “tax prep fees” and “office expenses." Again, these tax costs must directly relate to your farming business, not personal tax issues.
Schedule E is for “Supplemental Income and Loss,” and it covers a wide variety of tax situations and entities, including income from renting out real estate or collecting royalties. You can deduct the costs of tax return preparation that relates to either of these income sources, but again, you can’t deduct the cost of preparing your entire tax return. You can only claim the cost of preparing this and any other related schedules, or for tax advice on issues pertaining directly to this income.
This can be a bit tricky if you’re a landlord and you lived in or used any of your properties personally during the tax year. You’re not just breaking out business-related tax prep costs, but you—or your tax professional—must also determine what percentage of your business costs is deductible. You can only deduct all of your expenses if you personally used the home or unit for 14 days or less, or 10% of the time it was rented to others, if it sat vacant for a while. You must also have rented it at fair market value.
You can claim tax-related expenses from rental income or royalties in Part I of Schedule E, according to these rules. They’re “legal and other professional fees” on this schedule and they’re entered on Line 10.
If you're a business owner or statutory employee, the IRS also has you covered when it comes to preparation of state returns and state tax issues, too. This deduction is available for all things tax-related, provided those taxes are associated with your business. The same goes for any local taxes you might be dealing with. You can deduct them according to these rules and guidelines if you spent the money on your business.
As for state-level tax preparation fees deductions, check with a local tax professional to find out what applies in your state. The taxation process can vary considerably from state to state—some have no income tax at all, and one state—New Hampshire—taxes only dividends and interest through 2025. Various states might or might not offer this deduction.
The cost of tax preparation depends on how complicated your taxes are. More complicated taxes require more tax forms, and these extra forms come with extra costs. In general, if you seek help from an accountant, the average cost for a basic tax ranges between $220 and $323.
If you qualify to deduct tax preparation fees, then any type qualifies for the deduction. It doesn't matter whether you pay a flat fee, a percentage of your return, or any other fee structure.
