Miscellaneous Deductions

• Dues paid for membership in a labor union or public employees' union, as well as membership dues in other non-union employment or profession related associations, are deductible by U.S. taxpayers on Line 21 of Schedule A, Miscellaneous Deductions, as an unreimbursed employment-related expense. This deduction is only available to taxpayers who choose to itemize their deductions on Schedule A, rather than take the Form 1040 Standard Deduction.
  
  

Income Floor Requirement

• Union dues are among the Schedule A deductions which can only be claimed to the extent that they exceed 2 percent of the taxpayers adjusted gross income. Taxpayers must subtract 2 percent of their adjusted gross income from the total sum of those Schedule A deductions which are subject to this income floor, and may only claim as deductions the amount remaining after this subtraction.
  
  

Assessments

• Taxpayers may also include on their Schedule A Miscellaneous Deductions some of the assessments and contributions paid to unions other than dues. IRS regulations preclude taxpayers from deducting amounts paid to unions for union pension funds or for illness, accident or death benefit payments. Monies paid to unions for political lobbying or campaign activities can also usually not be deducted as employment-related expenses, but may be able to be deducted as political campaign contributions or other qualifying non-profit donations. Many other union assessments and contributions may be deducted along with dues.
  
  

Withholding from Wages

• If union dues or other union-related assessments are withheld from the taxpayer's paycheck, he must still claim those dues as taxable income incorporated into his adjusted gross income. The taxpayer can then enter the amount which was withheld on his Schedule A if he chooses to itemize deductions.
  
  

Limits

• There is no limit on the amount of union dues that may be deducted provided it is over the floor of 2 percent of adjusted gross income.