Simon lost $5,000 gambling this year on a trip to Las Vegas. In addition, he paid $2,000 to his broker for managing his $200,000 portfolio, and $1,500 to his accountant for preparing his tax return. In addition, Simon incurred $2,500 in transportation costs commuting back and forth from his home to his employer’s office, which were not reimbursed. Calculate the amount of these expenses that Simon is able to deduct (assuming he itemizes his deductions).

No amount is deductible.

Explanation:

In taxation, gambling losses are only tax deductible to the extent of winnings from the gambling. This implies that gambling losses is not deductible from other income. For a person to deduct gambling losses, he is required to itemize and report all his winnings from gambling as taxable income before deducting the gambling losses. Since no gambling winning is reported by Simon, the $5,000 gambling losses cannot be deducted.

Investment expenses such as a payment to a broker for managing investment have been eliminated and no more tax deductible since 2019.

Tax return fees are part of the miscellaneous fees under Schedule A of Form 1040, is no longer tax deductible because they have been eliminated for the period between 2018 and 2025 tax years.

Commuting expenses are never tax deductible when it has to do with a regular back and forth movement from home to place of employment. It is only deductible when it has to do with a regular movement from one place of employment to another place of employment when the tax payer has more than one job. Since there is no evidence that Simon has more than one job, the commuting expenses is not tax deductible.

Therefore, Simon has no amount that is deductible.

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