OMB No. 1545-1441

Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses Form 2106-EZ

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service © Attach to Form 1040.

Attachment

Sequence No. 54A

Your name Social security number Occupation in which you incurred expenses

General Information

1

Vehicle expense using the standard mileage rate. Complete Part III and multiply line 8a

by 311⁄2¢ (.315)

1

2

Parking fees, tolls, and transportation, including train, bus, etc., that did not involve overnight

travel or commuting to and from work

2

Travel expense while away from home overnight, including lodging, airplane, car rental, etc.

Do not include meals and entertainment

3

3

4 Business expenses not included on lines 1 through 3. Do not include meals and entertainment 4

5 Meals and entertainment expenses: $ x 50% (.50) 5

Total expenses. Add lines 1 through 5. Enter here and on line 20 of Schedule A (Form 1040).

(Fee-basis state or local government officials, qualified performing artists, and individuals with

disabilities: See the instructions for special rules on where to enter this amount.)

6

6

Cat. No. 20604Q Form 2106-EZ (1997)

Part I

Part III

Part II Figure Your Expenses

You May Use This Form ONLY if All of the Following Apply:

● You are an employee deducting expenses attributable to your job.

● If you are claiming vehicle expense,

● You do not get reimbursed by your employer for any expenses (amounts your employer included in box 1 of your Form W-2 are

not considered reimbursements).

Information on Your Vehicle. Complete this part ONLY if you are claiming vehicle expense on line 1.

7

8

a

9

10

11a

b

When did you place your vehicle in service for business purposes? (month, day, year) © / /

Of the total number of miles you drove your vehicle during 1997, enter the number of miles you used your vehicle for:

Do you (or your spouse) have another vehicle available for personal use?

Was your vehicle available for use during off-duty hours?

Do you have evidence to support your deduction?

If “Yes,” is the evidence written?

Business

Yes No

b Commuting c Other

Yes No

Yes No

Yes No

a You own your vehicle, and

b You are using the standard mileage rate for 1997 and also used it for the year you first placed the vehicle in service.

(99)

97

General Instructions

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code. Purpose of Form

You may use Form 2106-EZ instead of Form 2106 if you meet all the

requirements listed in Part I of this form.

Changes To Note

● The standard mileage rate has been increased to 311⁄2 cents for each

mile of business use in 1997.

● For tax years beginning after 1986, a fee-basis state or local

government official can deduct the expenses incurred for services

performed in that job in figuring adjusted gross income, rather than as a

miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% limit. See the line 6

instructions for more details. You should file Form 1040X to amend any

prior year income tax return affected by this retroactive change. However,

you generally must file Form 1040X within 3 years after the date you filed

Recordkeeping

You cannot deduct expenses for travel (including meals unless you used

the standard meal allowance), entertainment, gifts, or use of a car or

other listed property, unless you keep records to prove the time, place,

business purpose, business relationship (for entertainment and gifts), and

amounts of these expenses. Generally, you must also have receipts for

all lodging expenses (regardless of the amount) and any other expense of

$75 or more.

your original return or within 2 years after the date you paid the tax,

whichever is later.

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see back of form.
Form 2106-EZ (1997) Page 2

Specific Instructions

Part II—Figure Your Expenses

Line 2. See the line 8b instructions on this page for the definition of

commuting.

Line 3. Enter expenses for lodging and transportation connected with

overnight travel away from your tax home (defined below). You cannot

deduct any expenses for travel away from your tax home for any period

of temporary employment of more than 1 year. Do not include expenses

for meals and entertainment. For more details, including limits, see Pub.

463.

Line 4. Enter other job-related expenses not listed on any other line of

this form. Include expenses for business gifts, education (tuition and

books), home office, trade publications, etc. For details, including limits,

see Pub. 463 and Pub. 529. If you are deducting home office expenses,

see Pub. 587 for special instructions on how to report these expenses. If

you are deducting depreciation or claiming a section 179 deduction on a

cellular telephone or other similar telecommunications equipment, a home

computer, etc., see Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization, to figure

the depreciation and section 179 deduction to enter on line 4.

Do not include expenses for meals and entertainment, taxes, or

interest on line 4. Deductible taxes are entered on lines 5 through 9 of

Schedule A (Form 1040). Employees cannot deduct car loan interest.

Note: If line 4 is your only entry, do not complete Form 2106-EZ unless

you are:

Line 5. Enter your allowable meals and entertainment expense and

multiply the total by 50%. Include meals while away from your tax home

overnight and other business meals and entertainment. Instead of actual

cost, you may be able to claim the standard meal allowance for your

daily meals and incidental expenses while away from your tax home

overnight. Under this method, you deduct a specified amount, depending

on where you travel, instead of keeping records of your actual meal

expenses. However, you must still keep records to prove the time, place,

and business purpose of your travel. See Pub. 463 to figure your

deduction using the standard meal allowance.

Line 6. If you were a fee-basis state or local government official

(defined below), include the expenses you incurred for services

performed in that job in the total on Form 1040, line 31. Write “FBO” and

the amount in the space to the left of line 31. Your employee business

expenses are deductible whether or not you itemize deductions.

A fee-basis state or local government official is an official who is an

employee of a state or political subdivision of a state and is

compensated, in whole or in part, on a fee basis.

If you were an individual with a disability and are claiming

impairment-related work expenses (defined below), enter the part of the

line 6 amount attributable to those expenses on Schedule A (Form 1040),

line 27, instead of on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 20. Your

impairment-related work expenses are not subject to the 2% limit that

applies to most other employee business expenses.

Impairment-related work expenses are the allowable expenses of an

individual with physical or mental disabilities for attendant care at his or

her place of employment. They also include other expenses in connection

with the place of employment that enable the employee to work. See

Pub. 463 for more details.

Part III—Information on Your Vehicle

If you claim vehicle expense, you must provide certain information on the

use of your vehicle by completing Part III. Include an attachment listing

the information requested in Part III for any additional vehicles you used

for business during the year.

Line 7. Date placed in service is generally the date you first start using

your vehicle. However, if you first start using your vehicle for personal

use and later convert it to business use, the vehicle is treated as placed

in service on the date you started using it for business.

Line 8a. Do not include commuting miles on this line; commuting miles

are not considered business miles. See the line 8b instructions for the

definition of commuting.

Line 8b. If you do not know the total actual miles you used your vehicle

for commuting during the year, figure the amount to enter on line 8b by

multiplying the number of days during the year that you used your vehicle

for commuting by the average daily round trip commuting distance in

miles.

Generally, commuting is travel between your home and a work

location. However, such travel is not commuting if you meet any of the

following conditions:

2. You travel to a temporary work location outside the metropolitan

area where you live and normally work.

3. Your home is your principal place of business under section

280A(c)(1)(A) (for purposes of deducting expenses for business use of

your home) and you travel to another work location in the same trade or

business, regardless of whether that location is regular or temporary and

regardless of distance.

Generally, your tax home is your main place of business or post of

duty regardless of where you maintain your family home. If you do not

have a regular or main place of business because of the nature of your

work, then your tax home is the place where you regularly live. If you do

not fit in either of these categories, you are considered an itinerant and

your tax home is wherever you work. As an itinerant, you are not away

from home and cannot claim a travel expense deduction. For more

details on your tax home, see Pub. 463.

1. You have at least one regular work location away from your home

and you travel to a temporary work location in the same trade or

business, regardless of the distance. A temporary work location is one

where you perform services on an irregular or short-term basis (generally

a matter of days or weeks).

2. Received from at least two of those employers wages of $200 or

more per employer,

3. Had allowable business expenses attributable to the performing arts

of more than 10% of gross income from the performing arts, and

4. Had adjusted gross income of $16,000 or less before deducting

expenses as a performing artist.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information on this

form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United States. You are

required to give us the information. We need it to ensure that you are

complying with these laws and to allow us to figure and collect the right

amount of tax.

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary depending on

individual circumstances. The estimated average time is:

Recordkeeping 40 min.

Learning about

the law or the form 5 min.

Preparing the form 28 min.

Copying, assembling,

and sending the form

to the IRS 20 min.

You are not required to provide the information requested on a form that

is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form displays a valid

OMB control number. Books or records relating to a form or its instructions

must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the

administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax returns and

return information are confidential, as required by section 6103.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time

estimates or suggestions for making this form simpler, we would be

happy to hear from you. See the Instructions for Form 1040.

Additional Information

If you need more information about employee business expenses, you

will find the following publications helpful:

Pub. 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses

Pub. 529, Miscellaneous Deductions

Pub. 587, Business Use of Your Home (Including Use by Day-Care

Providers)

Pub. 946, How To Depreciate Property

If you were a qualified performing artist (defined below), include your

performing-arts-related expenses in the total on Form 1040, line 31. Write

“QPA” and the amount in the space to the left of line 31. Your

performing-arts-related business expenses are deductible whether or not

you itemize deductions. The expenses are not subject to the 2% limit

that applies to most other employee business expenses.

A qualified performing artist is an individual who:

1. Performed services in the performing arts as an employee for at

least two employers during the tax year,

● A fee-basis state or local government official claiming expenses in

performing that job,

● A qualified performing artist claiming performing-arts-related business

expenses, or

● An individual with a disability claiming impairment-related work

expenses.

See the line 6 instructions for definitions. If you are not required to file

Form 2106-EZ, enter your expenses directly on Schedule A (Form 1040),

line 20.

To be treated as a qualified performing artist, a married individual must

also file a joint return, unless the individual and his or her spouse lived

apart for all of 1997. On a joint return, requirements 1, 2, and 3 must be

figured separately for each spouse. However, requirement 4 applies to

the combined adjusted gross income of both spouses.