If you subscribe to a dividend reinvestment plan, you can deduct the service charges you pay for holding the shares you acquire through the plan, calculating and reinvesting cash dividends, and keeping records and providing statements.  Trustees’ fees for your IRA are deductible if they are separately billed and paid.

You can claim the indirect miscellaneous deductions of pass-through entities such as partnerships, S-corporations, and mutual funds that are not publicly traded.  An investment club formed solely to trade in securities is treated as a partnership for this purpose, and you can deduct your share of the club’s (partnership’s) operating expenses.  In the case of a publicly traded mutual fund, your share of investment expenses are offset against your gross dividend income and the net amount you have to report as dividend income is reported on Form 1099-DIV.  A non-publicly traded mutual fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV showing your share of gross income and investment expenses.  In this case you can deduct your share of investment expenses as a miscellaneous itemized deduction.  Partnerships and S-corporations report your share of income and expenses on Form K-1.

Legal fees and expenses are deductible if they are related to producing or collecting taxable income.  You can also deduct legal expenses you pay in connection with determining how much tax you owe, legal expenses you incur in a tax collection process, and in obtaining a tax refund.  Legal expenses related to resolving specific tax issues can be deducted on the appropriate tax schedule, for example, legal expenses can be deducted on Schedule C if they are associated with a trade or business, on Schedule E if they relate to rents, royalties or income from a partnership or subchapter S corporation, and on Schedule F if they relate to income from farming.  Legal expenses for resolving tax issues that are not related to business can be taken as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on Schedule A.