Key Takeaways
- Job search expenses (resume costs, agency fees, interview mileage, job-search-related travel) have not been federally tax-deductible since 2018, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) made that suspension permanent starting with the 2026 tax year.
- Moving expense deductions are now limited to active-duty military members relocating under a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) order - civilians moving for a new job get no federal deduction, and haven't since 2018.
- Eight states - Alabama, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania - never conformed to the federal suspension and still allow these deductions on state returns.
- Education expenses to qualify you for a new trade or profession have never been deductible as a job expense, before or after TCJA - that's a separate, longstanding rule, not something OBBBA changed.
- Reservists, qualified performing artists, and fee-basis government officials remain a narrow exception for unreimbursed employee business expenses generally, but that exception doesn't extend to job-hunting costs specifically.
If you’re searching for a new job in 2026 — maybe after a layoff or severance negotiation — the resume help, mileage to interviews, and employment agency fees you’re paying for are not federally tax-deductible, and haven’t been since 2018. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) suspended this deduction, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed in 2025, made that suspension permanent rather than letting it expire.
What Changed, and When
Before 2018, job search expenses fell under “miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the 2% AGI floor” — you could deduct the portion of eligible costs (resume printing, employment agency fees, mileage to interviews, long-distance calls for the job search) that exceeded 2% of your adjusted gross income, but only if you itemized.
TCJA suspended this entire category of deductions for tax years 2018 through 2025. Many taxpayers assumed it would return once that window closed. Instead, OBBBA eliminated it permanently starting in 2026 — there’s no federal job search expense deduction to plan around this year or in future years.
What About Moving for a New Job?
Same story, different provision. Civilian moving expense deductions were also suspended by TCJA in 2018 and made permanent under OBBBA. If you relocate for a new job today, none of your moving costs — truck rental, movers, mileage, lodging during the move — are federally deductible.
The one exception: active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces moving under military orders for a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) can still deduct unreimbursed moving expenses using Form 3903. OBBBA carved out a narrow, similar exception for certain intelligence community members, but the rules largely mirror the military provision. Everyone else gets nothing federally.
The State-Level Exception Most People Miss
Here’s the part that actually matters for a meaningful number of filers: eight states never conformed to the federal suspension and still allow the 2% miscellaneous itemized deduction — including job search expenses — on state returns: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania.
If you live in one of these states, keep your job search receipts (mileage logs, agency fees, resume services, employment website ads) even though you can’t use them on your federal return. Check your state’s specific rules — some, like California, still require the expenses to exceed 2% of your state AGI before any of it counts, and your federal tax bracket planning won’t be affected either way since this is a state-only benefit now.
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Two Worked Examples
Jake was laid off and spent about $600 over three months on resume writing help, mileage to five in-person interviews, and a paid job board subscription. On his federal return, none of it is deductible — itemizing wouldn’t help, because the entire category was eliminated. If Jake lives in California, he can potentially deduct the portion of that $600 (plus any other miscellaneous itemized expenses) that exceeds 2% of his California AGI on his state return, but only if he itemizes there too.
Marcus is active-duty Air Force and received PCS orders to relocate 800 miles for a new duty station. Because his move is military-ordered, he can deduct his unreimbursed moving costs — mileage, lodging en route, and non-reimbursed packing expenses — using Form 3903, entered directly on Schedule 1 of his federal return. His neighbor Dana, a civilian who moved the same distance for a new job offer that same month, gets no federal deduction for any part of her move.
What Job Seekers Can Still Do
Education tax credits, if you’re formally enrolled. The American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit are unrelated to the job-search-expense deduction and remain available if you’re taking qualifying coursework — but education specifically to break into a new trade or profession (as opposed to maintaining or improving skills in your current one) has never qualified as a job-related expense, a rule that predates TCJA entirely.
Self-employed and freelance job hunting is different. If you’re actively running a business — freelancing, consulting, or gig work — while also job hunting, ordinary and necessary expenses tied to growing that business (not your W-2 job search) are still deductible on Schedule C, since Schedule C deductions were never part of the miscellaneous itemized deduction category that got eliminated.
Unemployment benefits are still fully taxable, and job-search costs won’t offset that income the way they might have felt like they could pre-2018 — factor that into your withholding or estimated payments if you’re job hunting while collecting benefits.
Common Issues to Watch Out For
Assuming this deduction still exists because an old article, forum post, or tax-prep software prompt mentions it. A lot of outdated content online (including, until this update, this very page) still describes the pre-2018 rules. If a source doesn’t mention TCJA or OBBBA, treat the information as stale.
Confusing job-search expenses with reservist, performing-artist, or fee-basis-official expenses. Those three narrow categories can still deduct unreimbursed employee business expenses above the line via Form 2106 — but that’s about expenses tied to their current job, not the cost of hunting for a new one.
Not checking state conformity before assuming a state deduction doesn’t exist. Even within a conforming state, the rules and thresholds can differ from the old federal ones — verify your specific state’s current instructions rather than assuming the pre-2018 federal rule applies unchanged.
Forgetting that self-employment expenses are a completely separate category. If you’re a freelancer or independent contractor searching for W-2 work on the side, don’t confuse your deductible Schedule C business expenses with your non-deductible personal job search costs.
