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Are My Mesa Legal Fees Tax Deductible?
Legal fees can be quite expensive. You are paying for a person’s expertise, which is gained by years of schooling and experience practicing in that field of law. That should never come cheap. To try to get bargain legal fees is to jeopardize your legal interests.
To somewhat lessen your expense, you may seek to deduct some of the legal fees you have paid in Mesa from your tax obligation. As with many things related to your tax obligations, the answer of whether or not you can deduct your legal fees is a complicated one. There are certain situations in which these fees can be deducted, and there are many situations in which they cannot be.
The most common reasons that an average individual may have for consulting a lawyer are typically not recognized for tax deduction purposes. Therefore, if you have to hire a lawyer to help you with your Mesa divorce or you have to go court against a family member over child custody, you won’t be able to deduct the fees you pay your attorney.
The exception for deducting any legal fee from your taxes is that it is necessary for the production or collection of gross income, or if you are consulting with an attorney about your tax obligation. Therefore, you may be able to deduct legal fees for some personal business if you can show that it fits one of these categories. For example, you may not be able to deduct the fees for your divorce attorney, but you may be able to deduct fees if you are consulting an attorney about past-due alimony or about your tax obligations after your divorce is final.
Adoption is another exception. If you adopt a child, you can apply for a tax credit that covers the expenses you have put toward the adoption, including fees for consulting or working with a lawyer.
If you own a business, you can also deduct the majority of your legal expenses, since most of them will be taken out in the interest of collecting or producing income or getting tax advice. Examples can include undergoing legal proceedings to collect money that a customer owes you, defending your business against a discrimination lawsuit from an employee or former employee, or negotiating contracts of sale. You can also deduct legal fees that you paid to help you get your business started or to help you buy another business.
Whether you are an individual or a business, you would deduct your legal fees the same way you would other itemized expenses. As an individual, your deductions are limited to two percent of your adjusted gross income.
If you are confused at all about what expenses you can deduct or how, you can work with a tax attorney to get guidance. The legal fees you pay for that guidance will also be deductible since you are seeking counsel for paying your taxes.
My AZ Lawyers can give you the advice you need for your personal or business taxes in Mesa. Our team of Mesa, AZ lawyers has been working with clients for many years, and they are knowledgeable about the intricate tax codes that govern Mesa and the state of Arizona. It is important that you get the professional legal advice you need on such complicated matters. Any mistakes or omissions that you make in filing your personal or business taxes can cost you a lot of money and potentially lead to legal consequences.
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