> 1.) Are travel expenses for travelling to a moonlighting job deductible, and does this include road tolls?



Travel expenses in connection with driving between your home and a regular place of business is not deductible. Driving between job sites is deductible. You can claim your deduction based on the standard mileage rate of $.365 per mile (in 2002) or based on actual expenses incurred multiplied by the car's business use percentage.



> 2.) Are parking expenses deductible (both at the primary fellowship and at the moonlighting location)?



Parking and tolls follow the same rules as above. So any parking fees and tolls paid when you drive to a place of business are deductible only if you drove there from another place of business.



> 3.) Are "on-call" meals deductible, and if so, what is considered "on-call" and what is the allowance?



If you're within the general vicinity of where you live, the cost of your on-call meals aren't deductible. The IRS defines general vicinity of where you live as close enough that you can drive to that location and back, without needing to stop to sleep.



However, there was a court case where a policeman who was required to remain on his beat was allowed to deduct the cost of his meals eaten while on his beat that exceeded the cost if he were to eat at home. We claim a deduction for on-call meals based on this method.



> 4.) Are medical text/reference books deductible?



Yes, any expense in connection with your profession that is either "ordinary" and "necessary". We have a listing of those expenses at http://www.mdtaxes.com/mdbusexp.html. Obviously, any expenses that are reimbursed to you aren't deductible.



> 5.) Is it true that for the first year of a research position in a fellowship in which a monthly stipend is disbursed with no taxes deducted, that it is not necessary to pay the taxes on that income quarterly (for the

first year only)?



You need to be careful here. The first year people moonlight, they generally don't need to pay estimated taxes, as long as their withholding from their job this year exceeds their prior year's tax liability. However,

when you start receiving a stipend, you no longer will have taxes withheld. So for that reason, you probably need to set up estimates based on the lesser of your prior year's tax liability or you projected current year's tax liability.

Zip Code: cpa@mdtaxes.com