J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2013: Your Complete Guide to a Better Bottom Line

Uniforms and Clothing

The cost of uniforms required by the job generally is deductible. Thus, for example, the cost of nurse’s uniforms is deductible. However, clothing that is adaptable to ordinary street use is not deductible even if used solely in business.

Nondeductible clothing costs cannot be transformed into deductible costs by calling the clothing something else. For example, an attorney cannot deduct the cost of business suits by claiming they are an advertising expense, even though a prosperous look is a way of attracting new clients. If the cost of the clothes is deductible as a business expense, then the cost of cleaning and altering the clothes is also deductible.

Example

An actor who buys a tuxedo for a role cannot deduct the cost because the tuxedo is adaptable to street use—in other words, it can be used in other ways than on-the-job uses.