Below the line deductions are tax deductions or adjustments that modify a
taxpayer's
adjusted gross income and are used to calculate a taxpayer's
taxable income. The
so-called "line" is AGI (Adjusted Gross Income). Therefore,
tax deductions that occur after AGI is calculated are called below-the-line deductions. Any deductions that
modify gross income
and occur before AGI is calculated are called
above-the-line deductions. Below the line deductions can be one of two
forms (either itemized deductions or
the standard deduction).
Below the line deductions are used in the
following basic calculation:
Adjustable Gross Income -
Below the Line Deductions = Tax Income
Employee business expenses
make up only one part of airline pilots' or fight
attendants' itemized tax deductions, and itemized deductions are
below-the-line deductions. All of the
itemized deductions that pilots and
flight attendants write-off get entered on
IRS Form 2106, so
you can think of
IRS Form 2106 essentially as one big itemized deduction. That is the
reason that only pilots and flight attendants who
itemize can write their
airline job expenses.