看你如何理解与你收入的联系，以及是否分类减免了

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Tax deduction for attorney's fees is a complicated issue
Last Updated: Dec. 6, 2002


Avrum D. Lank
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Q. In late 2001, I invested funds with a broker in a "high yield" trading program. Shortly after I wired him the funds, I got word that the program was a scam and the Feds shut it down and confiscated the cash.

A group of investors, me included, hired an attorney, who worked through the courts and got us our funds back, less the attorney's fee. He said his fee is likely tax deductible.

I do my own taxes. Is his fee tax deductible? If so, where on the forms do I deduct it?

R.M., via the Internet

A. This is a complicated situation.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, the general rule is:

"You can usually deduct legal expenses that you incur in attempting to produce or collect taxable income."

But that also means if what you collected was not taxable, then you cannot deduct any legal fees required to get it. If it was partially taxable and partially tax free, then some of the legal fees are deductible.

If it is not deductible, it is possible that the fee will reduce your basis in the investment and produce a capital loss.

Call the lawyer who got you your money back and get a definitive answer. You are paying him and should expect complete legal service for the money.

If the lawyer says the fee is not deductible and does not produce a capital loss, then ask whether the difference between what you invested and what you got back qualifies as a casualty loss due to theft.

If the fee is deductible, it is subject to the so-called 2% limitation. That means it is added to a bunch of other possibly deductible expenses such as a safe deposit box and IRA fees. All of those are totaled, and any amount above 2% of adjusted gross income is deductible, subject to some limitations for extremely high-income individuals.

You use Schedule A of Form 1040 to report the 2% deductions.

A list of expenses eligible for the 2% deduction is in IRS Publication 17. It is free and can be obtained by writing to the IRS Central Area Distribution Center, P.O. Box 8903, Bloomington, IL 61702-8903. It is also available on the Internet through the IRS Web site: irs.gov.