Eli5 how tax write offs work

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So I ordered shoes through my work place and via my paystubs I absolutely don’t understand

So boots cost 200$

First week they took 50$ out of my check (as I expected)

Then the next week my check was 200$ more, on inspection, it showed normal taxes being deducted from, then it showed “Shoes +200$” as if it just paid for the boots from my taxes? But proceeded to give me the money?

Then the following week they took 25$ from my paycheck

So I truely havnt a fucken clue what’s happening rn

In: Other

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because you need the boots for work, you can exclude the cost of it from your income when filing for taxes. What you’re describing is your workplace compensating you for the cost of the boots. On the pay stub, you should have the initial amount which is what you were promised for your pay. One of the sections after that is a rollup of all the additions/deductions. Although your taxes normally show up as a deduction in this section, this section isn’t exclusive to taxes.

As for tax write offs, if your company didn’t reimburse you for the boots, you can claim in your tax filing. As an example, let’s say that you make $10,000 over the course of the year. As such, you will normally owe taxes on $10,000 and the tax bracket that you fall under is based on that $10,000 amount. If you paid for the boots out of your own pocket, you can claim that $200 as a workspace expense. As such, the taxable amount and the tax bracket you fall under will be based on an overall $9,500 income.

In the future, recommend you post stuff like this in /r/personalfinance/

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