Most independent adjusters are responsible for their own lodging and transportation expenses while working catastrophes. Can these expenses be deducted from an adjuster's yearly income? A column called "Tax Talk," which is hosted on the web site bankrate.com, recently addressed this topic and gave some valuable advice.

The question posed in the column involved an adjuster who had spent four months in New Orleans adjusting claims. While there, he stayed in hotels and paid for all of his meals, racking up more than $4,000 in expenses while still maintaining his home in New Mexico. When it came time to file his tax return, his tax preparer told him that these expenses could not be deducted.

The column's author and expert, George Saenz, disagreed with the preparer in his response. Saenz wrote that insurance carrier employees could use Form 2106, Employee Business Expenses, to claim expenses that were not reimbursed. According to him, though, these itemized deductions are subject to a reduction by two percent of the adjusted gross income, which could result in very little benefit, although he recommended doing the calculations to make sure.