In article <88958f6a-7ded-4a59-9a98-94c53bed169d[at]u29g2000pro.googlegroups.com> ,
latex_user <mpsampat[at]gmail.com> wrote:
- quote -


Ah, conveniently found new information!

Your employer is also in Austin and when you travelled to
Austin you performed work for that employer. And was that the
primary purpose for your travel?


In order to claim unreimbursed employee business expenses, you
have to show the employer required you to incur those expenses
and that you requested reimbursement, and the employer declined
to reimburse you. And the primary purpose of those expenses, which
were reasonable, ordinary, and necessary, were for business.


That's sure a lot to show. Start documenting, and be sure
you have written documentation for the points mentioned above.


You will have to file form 2106, will reduce such expenses by 2%
of AGI (a good reason to consider filing MFS) and if you are
anywhere near AMT you know that employee business expenses are
lost in AMT land.
--


ArtKamlet at a o l dot c o m Columbus OH K2PZH

--
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On Oct 14, 6:56*pm, kam...[at]panix.com (Arthur Kamlet) wrote:
- quote -

Hi Arthur,

thanks for your reply! that was super-helpful!! I understand that for
my case Boston is my "tax home" even though my "family home" is in
Austin.
Also I forgot to add that when I visited Austin, I worked from Austin
for the same employer in Boston.
I believe that in this case I can claim my round-trip travel expenses
from Boston-Austin. The following example (example 2, page 4 in pub
463 from www.irs.gov)
shows the exact same case as mine.

"Example 2. Your family home is in Pitts-burgh, where you work 12
weeks a year. The rest of the year you work for the same employer in
Baltimore. In Baltimore, you eat in restaurants and sleep in a rooming
house. Your salary is the same whether you are in Pittsburgh or
Baltimore. Because you spend most of your working time and earn most
of your salary in Baltimore, that city is your tax home. You cannot
deduct any expenses you have for meals and lodging there. However,
when you return to work in Pittsburgh, you are away from your tax home
even though you stay at your family home. You can deduct the cost of
your round trip between Baltimore and Pittsburgh. You can also deduct
your part of your family’s living expenses for meals and lodging while
you are living and working in Pittsburgh."

In parallel to this example, in my case Pitts-burgh === Austin and
Baltimore === Boston.
I believe that in this case I can claim my round-trip travel expenses
from Boston-Austin.
Would you folks buy that arguement ;-)

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

In article <1ed6b661-6647-4b9e-a869-78ae03774f07[at]d10g2000pra.googlegroups.com> ,
latex_user <mpsampat[at]gmail.com> wrote:
- quote -


If Boston had been intended to be a temporary work assignment
lasting less than one year and in fact did last less than one
year, then you have a good argument for deducting Boston rent
as temporary living expenses.


But that's not the case here. It would seem your tax home
was Boston, and there was not a valid business reason to travel
to TX, so those travel expenses were personal and not deductible.


- quote -


No work related reason, so no work related deduction.


- quote -

On a joint tax return, you can deduct either state income tax or
state sales tax, not both. Since TX has no state income tax, you
will have to choose between sales tax or state income tax deductions.

If you elect to file MFS returns, and your living arrangement
requires you to treat the income and deductions as community
property, you would split those deductions, so no real advantage
to file MFS.

Had there not been any community property state involved, you
would have been able to file MFS and one of you could claim
state sales tax while the other could claim state income tax, but
I suspect TX community property rules would treat such taxes as
community property, and that scheme would not work.
--


ArtKamlet at a o l dot c o m Columbus OH K2PZH

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

We are filing as: "married filing jointly".
We have our own condo in Austin,Texas. My wife has a job in Austin
Texas so she was living here. For entire 2007 to current time, I had a
job in Boston so I rented an apartment in Boston. So we had to
maintain two households. Our questions are:

1) Can we deduct the rent I paid in Boston as an work-related
expense ?
(My employer did not reimburse me for it)

2) I traveled from Boston to Austin to visit my wife. Can I deduct the
one way air travel from Austin-to-Boston as a work related expense ?

3) In itemized deductions, can we deduct MA state tax since I paid for
that ?

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >