You Can Deduct Unreimbursed Research Expenses from Your Taxes

If you're a professor, that is. The IRS says so right here (scroll down a ways to the bulleted phrase "research expenses of a college professor," but don't ask me how I stumbled onto this today -- trust me, it wasn't through the effects of my own curiosity).

I don't know what exactly this means for the unreimbursed research expenses of adjuncts since research is not typically in their contracts (although you could probably make a case for its necessity to furthering your career) and some of you savvy readers are probably way ahead of me here, but in comments to this post a ways back, Professor Zero mentioned the cost of gas involved in taking care of hir research needs.And so when I stumbled onto this bit of useful tax info I figured I'd post since a lot of people are having their research budgets cut and going to conferences/archives etc. becomes an out-of-pocket expense -- but a necessary one.

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I have nothing much else to say at the moment, so it's good my last post seems to have been so popular. In less than a week, it's already at number 8 in the top 10 most read posts here. Hopefully, a few of you are getting something out of it.

At some point, I do have to tell you about last weekend's visit to the Tea Party branch of the family of Peaches (Long story short: They were ecstatic to find out I work for Free Market Think Tank -- only to be shortly thereafter appalled when I revealed that I have not yet myself transformed into either an admirer of Sarah Palin, as they are, or "a delusional anti-government Randite fuckebagge" (no, I will never get tired of this phrase -- if you've been following the blog and my occasional comment elsewhere, you understand why).

But for now, it's too hot to think. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking by it, even thought I'm hiding out indoors in the air-conditioning.

Maybe so, and, apparently, there are people bored enough to have actually tried:

Via

Mmmmmm, that's got me thinking about dinner. Most likely salad (seriously, eggs in this weather?). But...does such an experiment count as research? That's the real question. Or, not, if you're like me and going it alone (honestly, I haven't made much progress since the last research update). Whatever. It's summer and such is how things go. Y'all stay cool, and, if you are in a position to do so, don't forget to deduct those research expenses!! Every little egg counts.