Under limited circumstances, the cost of clothing, as well as the cost of cleaning it, can be a deductible business related expense. The most commonly experienced such situation is where it involves a uniform. Generally, it’s clear cut – if clothing is truly a uniform, then the cost of buying, maintaining, and cleaning it is a deductible expense – to the extent not reimbursed by the employer. The classic losing attempt to claim clothing as a uniform is the “professional” who has to wear either a suit or perhaps even a collared shirt, and who argues that were it not for the mandates of my employer, I would never wear such clothing – and in fact, I only wear such clothing to go to work. While those claims/positions may indeed be quite true, they fail when it comes to being sufficient support to allow for the deduction of such clothing as a business expense.
While there are numerous cases involving this area, and a variety of issues and points to be considered or challenged, the simplistic basic test, benchmark, is whether or not such clothing can be worn (is suitable for wearing?) outside of, other than for, business. Thus, the classic uniform (think for instance in terms of UPS) really qualifies as strictly a business item, not suitable for wearing other than for employment. On the other hand, a suit or dress, tie, collared shirt, etc., are all clearly suitable for general purpose wearing, even if for you personally it is not something you would do. The classic “test” applied to a female performer a number of years ago, when she claimed a dress that she wore on stage as strictly business, was whether or not she’d be able to walk normally and sit down wearing that dress. As I recall, it was so tight (intended for the appropriate impression on stage) that there was no way she would be able to use that dress in general, and thus it qualified as a business item.
If you have any questions contact Kal Barson at kal@barsongroup.com
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