Employment Income and Related Deductions

Many business owners have working spouses who are pulling down a salary, and who will need to report income and associated deductions from a W-2 on their joint return.

What's more, many business owners themselves start out as moonlighters while holding down a day job for a larger company. Even after a small business is established, it's neither uncommon nor a bad idea for the owner to have another job on the side, to provide supplemental income when business is slow.

• Employment income must be reported if any of the scenarios described above apply to you, or if you yourself are a wage earner rather than a business owner. You'll need to be aware of the rules for reporting income from a job on your tax return.
• Farm income must be reported on Schedule F, for those of you that have it.
• Miscellaneous income comes in many forms and guises. In this section we'll provide you with a list of various types of income that are or are not taxable, and tell you how to handle the taxable ones on your income tax return.
• Employee business expenses are discussed in the second part of this section, including expenses for cars, travel, entertainment, and job-related education.
• Moving expenses can be deducted by both the self-employed and those employed by others, provided that they are job-related.
• Child or dependent care credits and benefits round out the list of tax breaks for employees and the self-employed.