Can we deduct the fees we paid to our financial advisor?

January 21, 2015 by Dave Du Val, EA

Hey Dave,

My wife has an IRA under professional management with a financial advisor here in Portland. Can we deduct the fees charged for his services in 2014 (the first year of her rollover from her 401K)? No withdrawals were made in 2014, but we did make a distribution on January 1, 2015.

Many thanks,

Sammy

 

Sammy,

The answer to this question is a bit convoluted. If the fees were paid from within the IRA, then the answer is a simple “no.” If they were paid with funds outside of the IRA, e.g., you wrote a separate check to the advisor, then the answer would be, “Yes, the fees are deductible as investment fees.” That said, this type of deduction is subject to a 2% floor, so there is only a deduction if you itemize, and then only to the extent that the total of all deductions subject to this floor exceed 2% of your AGI. Sorry there is not a simple yes\no answer, but that is often the case when it comes to taxes.

Deductibly Yours,

Dave