Employment and outplacement agency fees. You can deduct employment and outplacement agency fees you pay in looking for a new job in your present occupation. Employer pays you back. If, in a later year, your employer pays you back for employment agency fees, you must include the amount you receive in your gross income up to the amount of your tax benefit in the earlier year. See Recoveries in Publication 525.
Employer pays back the employment agency.
If your employer pays the fees directly to the employment agency and you were not responsible for them, you do not include them in your gross income. You can deduct amounts you spend for typing, printing, and mailing copies of a resume to prospective employers if you spent the amounts in looking for a new job in your present occupation. Travel and transportation expenses. If you travel to an area and, while there, you look for a new job in your present occupation, you may be able to deduct travel expenses to and from the area. You can deduct the travel expenses if the trip is primarily to look for a new job.