2) Attend a conference with people in your industry. Remember, if your employer reimburses you for your professional dues, you may not deduct the expense on your return. However, membership dues paid to country clubs, athletic clubs, etc. These include bar associations, medical associations or the Kiwanis, Rotary and Lions clubs. For instance, membership dues paid to business leagues, trade associations, chambers of commerce, boards of trade, real estate boards, professional organizations and civic or public service organizations are deductible. As an added bonus, if you join certain organizations that help you carry out the duties of your job, you may be able to deduct your membership dues if you itemize, to the extent it exceeds 2% of your adjusted gross income for the year. Our network is an asset – the bigger and stronger we make it, the more we can leverage it to advance our careers. Networking is the number one way people get ahead today.

Here are four things you can do to advance your career, the associated cost of which you can write off come April: 1) Join an association with annual dues so you can network with your peers. I don’t know about you, but I’m always incentivized when I know I can do something deductible while improving my professional worth and positioning myself to be more valuable. Many people don’t realize there are tax write-offs that can serve to further your career. To help make going that extra mile a little bit less expensive, J.T O’Donnell of offers some career advancement activities that happen to be tax deductible.

But sometimes we need a little help to reach our career goals, whether it’s attending a conference, joining a professional association or going back to school.

Getting promoted and mastering our jobs are results of consistent hard work and great relationships.

Joining a small business tax write off