Hi,

My status for 2005 was:

Jan 2005 - Sep 2005 = OPT (F-1 status)
Oct 2005 - Dec 2005 = H1B

Now my question is:

1) Is there any itemized deductions I can put for my OPT period? Like - books, donations(made in India), travel, rent, food, etc. And if "NOT" then is there any other items I can put?

As some of the tax consultants here have put all these items as itemized deductions for my friends who had the same status. But I don't know if it is legal or not.

Please advice.

Thanks,
Sumit

Sumit:

The only way you can claim travel/rent/food is if you are on a job on a temporary (less than one year) location and you either are not reimbursed for these expenses OR are taxed on the reimbursements.

Otherwise, such itemized deductions are illegal.