Number of workers who didn’t know you could potentially claim the following job search expenses:

·         Professional resume-writing service – 78 percent

·         Resume paper – 84 percent

·         Travel (parking, tolls) to and from job interviews – 57 percent

·         Relocation to another city or state for a job (moving trucks, travel, temporary housing, etc) – 38 percent

“Documenting the costs of a job search may deliver a tax break whether it results in a new position or not.  Job search expenses may be deductible when, totaled with employee expenses and other miscellaneous deductions, they exceed 2 percent of adjusted gross income,” said John Hewitt, CEO of Liberty Tax Service.  

Eligible Work Expenses

While most workers understood uniforms, safety gear and home office equipment or phone/Internet service may be tax deductible, at least half were not aware certain travel expenses and home office furniture could potentially be claimed depending on one’s work situation.  

Number of workers who didn’t know you may be able to claim the following work expenses:

·         Uniforms – 37 percent

·         Steel-toe boots for work – 42 percent

·         Safety glasses for work – 44 percent

·         Travel to see clients – 50 percent

·         Travel to work at different locations – 53 percent

·         Home office equipment – 38 percent

·         Home office phone/Internet services – 40 percent

·         Home office furniture – 59 percent

“Home office expenses may be claimed if you exclusively and regularly use your home office as your principal place of business and/or meet other requirements.  It’s important to be aware of the criteria for any eligible work-related expense, so you can appropriately maximize your return,” said Hewitt.     

Eligible Education Expenses

Continued education is another area workers can often overlook when filing their taxes.  Just one-in-five (23 percent) have claimed their education expenses on their tax return and more than half (55 percent) were not aware that going back to school for new skills in their current occupation may be tax deductible. 

“With so many workers transitioning to faster-growing industries post-recession, we see greater investments in acquiring new degrees and certifications,” said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.  “If you’re not researching which educational or career-related expenses are tax deductible, you could be leaving money on the table.”  

More than half of workers (58 percent) file their taxes in January or February, 28 percent typically file in March and 14 percent file in April or later.  

How will workers spend their tax refunds? 

Most plan to pay off debt or put the money into savings.

·         Pay off bills – 41 percent

·         Put into savings – 34 percent

·         Make home improvements – 11 percent

·         Go on vacation – 9 percent

·         Invest it – 7 percent

·         Pay back money they owe to people – 5 percent

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive^© on behalf of CareerBuilder and Liberty Tax Service among 6,000 U.S. workers (employed full-time, not self-employed, government and non-government) between February 9 and March 2, 2012 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 6,000, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.27 percentage points.  Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.