Interview Deductions

[Ursus Martimus]

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So there is alot of discusion on other threads about the deductability of residency interview expenses. The IRS has this to say:

Job Search Expenses

You can deduct certain expenses you have in looking for a new job in your present occupation, even if you do not get a new job.

You cannot deduct these expenses if:

1.You are looking for a job in a new occupation,

2.There was a substantial break between the ending of your last job and your looking for a new one, or

3.You are looking for a job for the first time.


Since you are theoretically going from M4 status to intern status, is that not looking for a new job in your present occupation (occupation=vocation=career) and thus entitle you, although not your fellow MD students, the liberty of such deductions?

 

[AndyMD]

I'm not sure about this, but from the criteria you've stated, I imagine you can't deduct because you were officially a "student" during M4, not an employee of the medical school, regardless of your scholarship/funding, right? So this transition from school to residency would probably still be regarded as 'looking for a job for the first time,' which is covered by Point 3.

 

[Ursus Martimus]

Whether you are a student or not you are indeed paid a salary which is further legitimized by having taxes taken out. ANy onther thoughts?

 

[AndyMD]

Whether you are a student or not you are indeed paid a salary which is further legitimized by having taxes taken out. ANy onther thoughts?

Well, I don't think "money = salary" necessarily... In this case, we're talking about a scholarship during your MD years, and a training stipend (still not a salary) during your graduate years. Having taxes taken doesn't legitimize it at all -- you have to pay taxes on any income you receive over a certain threshold, including gifts, gambling winnings and Holocaust reparations (I'm serious, check the IRS website), but that doesn't make those things a salary and therefore constitute "having a job". There's an easy way to solve this problem, though, and that's to call the IRS or a third-party tax preparation service. 🙂