Is a MSDN Subscription tax deductable?

Post #19,590 by orion 11/27/01 11:54:38 PM Reply	Is a MSDN Subscription tax deductable? I am thinking about getting a MSDN Subscription, and was wondering if it was tax deductable? Or is it just training and college courses that I can claim? *Picking up the pieces of my broken life.*
Post #19,634 by ChrisR 11/28/01 11:05:11 AM Reply	As in all things, it depends... I don't have an MSDN subscription, but I do write off a bunch of my expenses - books, software, hardware, etc... In my particular circumstance, though, I get income from consulting - basically self employment. So I write them off as a business expense to offset the income derived from my "business". Not sure what the rules are for employees. If the employer requires you to purchase the software or it is necessary for your source of income, then it is tax deductible. IANAA*, though, so I don't keep up with the rules. My Father-In-Law is a CPA, so I don't usually think about such matters (I'll ask him the next time I talk to him).
Post #19,643 by hnick 11/28/01 11:59:13 AM Reply	Re: Is a MSDN Subscription tax deductable? It's deductable for your employers, certainly. You would likely have problems doing so. In any case, before you spend the money, you might want to consider: 1) It's EXPENSIVE!! if you get the full blown version and USELESS if you don't. 2) You get a lot of tools that you probably already have and a lot of versions of their operating systems. This is neat if you're running a test center, but useless for home learning (and you are bound by licence not to use the stuff for anything useful, running your own IIS server outside of a test environment, for example) It's a lot cheaper to buy a student or home use package to learn the nuts and bolts if you want to do that sort of thing. 3) You get to pay them for the privilege of debugging their crap for them. 4) Some things never change: Microsoft Help doesn't IMO, you're better off spending the money on beer: the hangover is more tangible, and less irritating than MS software. good luck, Hugh
Post #19,648 by a6l6e6x 11/28/01 12:59:30 PM Reply	Re: Is a MSDN Subscription tax deductable? It could be a Miscellaneous Deductions. Either as an Education expense to "maintain or improve skills required in present work" or as Unreimbursed Employee Expenses. If you use it to benefit your current employer, then use form 2106. [link\|http://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2106.pdf\|IRS form 2106.] Unfortunately, these Miscellaneous Deductions are subject to the 2% of adjusted gross income limitation (i.e. the first 2% doesn't count). So you could be out of luck. See [link\|http://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p529.pdf\|IRS Publication 529.] If you use it to benefit your own business, then the expense would be on Schedule C of your 1040 (and you are the proprietor), or the appropriate form for the business type (i.e. partnership, corporation). I do my own taxes, but INAL, and definitely no tax guru, so YMMV. Alex Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. -- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Post #19,649 by tuberculosis 11/28/01 1:06:39 PM Reply	Falls under "Professional Publications" I think. I'd list it under personal biz/job related deductions but as is noted elsewhere, its subject to the 2% rule. FWIW, I also include costs for DSL, resume printing, pens and pencils, computer equipment, Java Developers Journal subscriptions, etc... Basically all that stuff you gotta have to stay current because you program for a living.

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