There are many hot phrases coming out of this presidential campaign cycle, but it is not all crooked locker room talk. Taxes have also been getting lots of attention, and not just when it comes to which candidate’s plan you prefer. For if you go to Google and type in “are political” the first suggestion is “are political contributions tax deductible?”

And sometimes the best part of my job is when it is really easy.

The answer is simply “no.” And the IRS’ wording on the subject doesn’t leave any room for debate:

You can't deduct contributions made to a political candidate, a campaign committee, or a newsletter fund. Advertisements in convention bulletins and admissions to dinners or programs that benefit a political party or political candidate aren't deductible.

For anyone wondering then, there is your answer. Although I have to note the irony that you can deduct donations to many organizations whose goal is to do good. That may say something about the quality of work that our political system does.

Really, it is just more that the IRS does not see political action as a deductible expense. After all, you generally also cannot deduct expenses incurred for trying to influence legislation, participating in political campaigns or communicating with executive branch officials to influence their actions.

Looking at these political maneuverings got me to thinking that it might be worth looking at other things that are not tax-deductible. So to that end, you should not be counting on the positive tax ramifications of the following:

-Wristwatches. For in the IRS’ wisdom-filled words, “You can’t deduct the cost of a wristwatch, even if there is a job requirement that you know the correct time to properly perform your duties.” Although this does make me wonder if pocket watches then would be allowable.

-Health Spa Expense. And if your job also requires that you be in good physical condition to perform your duties, you still do not get to deduct any spa expenses.

-Travel Expense for Other Individuals. There are plenty of legitimate reasons for deducting expenses when traveling for business. There are many fewer legitimate reasons for why you had to pay for your wife and family to accompany you.

-Lunches with Co-Workers. In a similar vein, if you have traveled away from home for business, those meals can be deductible. When it just hits noon at the office, however, hitting a restaurant with the girl from the next cubicle is not a deductible expense.

-Commuting Expenses. Similarly, the cost of traveling away from home on business is likely deductible. That car ride to and from the regular office every day, though, is not – no matter how long you spent in traffic.

There are obviously many more that I could get into here. There are also some categories of deduction where I could just pick one and write an entire article pulling apart the nuances of what is and what is not deductible. What this highlights is the usefulness (or dare I say, need) of having someone who understands the rules on your side. So if you are curious about what expenses you have incurred this year are actually deductible, this is a good time to start getting answers to those questions and making some moves before the end of the year if your tax situation needs help. 

Against all odds (and you can be certain that we computed them), Ben Affleck’s film “The Accountant” topped the weekend box office. I will take some enjoyment in that, but have to leave it in the past and again turn to the real world.

Accountants do play a role in that world, after all, and recently our world has received a brighter spotlight with the refusal of presidential candidate to release his tax returns.

Every major party candidate has released their tax returns since 1972. Mitt Romney caused some talk in 2012 when he did not do so as early as is usual (around the typical April deadline), but he eventually graced the world with a 203-page return from 2010 and a 379-page opus from 2011. Ross Perot, though, refused to release his returns when he ran for president in 1992 (and with all the Gary Johnson talk on the edges of this election, it is impressive to note that Perot garnered almost 19 percent of the popular vote then), because it seems to be what billionaires do.

I feel I first have to state that Trump’s claim that he cannot release his return while it is under audit is not valid. Yes, the audit may result in a couple of changes, but they promise not to be that substantial, And as Forbes’ Kelly Phillips Erb astutely pointed out months ago, there is value in Trump releasing what he actually filed, no matter what the final result is. 

On one hand, it seems understandable that people with the level of wealth of Trump and Perot would not want those numbers publicly known. At the same time, however, it is not like those who normally run for president are destitute. So it raises the question, just what information is included when one releases a tax return?

First, the return would give only a rough look at how much Trump is actually worth. He claims it is billions of dollars at times, while his detractors claims it is a much smaller number. My bet would be that the truth lies – like it does with almost everything – somewhere in the middle. A tax return, though, deals in taxable income, not overall worth, even when it runs to hundreds of pages.

The returns do actually show some things, though, and a big one is just how much someone pays in taxes. And I think this is the piece that could come to light and be the most divisive. When debates rage over how much taxes one should pay – especially among the extremely wealthy – it would be ammunition for opponents if they were to find that Trump paid no or minimal taxes.

That situation seems to be Trump’s reality, as we saw from the leaked returns that recently came to light.  Back in May, Trump also told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that “I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible.” As I stated when I wrote of the leaked returns a couple of weeks ago, this does not mean that Trump has done anything illegal, shady or underhanded. If the fact that he could pay next to nothing bothers someone, then the correct place to put the blame is on the system, not on someone working within that system.

The returns would also show how much money Trump gives to charity. This is another of those polarizing issues. Trump claims he is charitable, while his detractors say he the money he claims to donate are done through other organizations, where even if he is involved, it is not actually his money going to the charity. Again, you know where I believe the truth usually lies.

Some other things we could learn from a return are real estate holdings and taxes, the possible existence of offshore accounts, businesses in which one is involved and the presence of household employees.

Would there be anything in a return so shocking as to shift votes? That depends upon the importance and value one places on certain issues. There is information there, though, and more than one might realize if you only think of simpler tax returns. At this point, we have to accept that we are not going to see this information. That is unless Ben Affleck infiltrates Trump Tower and absconds with it. 

It is not often that those of us in the accounting industry get to bust outside our bland stereotype. Not that the stereotypes are bland, but people believe accountants are bland. It is OK, you can silently admit it, I can take it.

I mean just picture an accountant in your mind. Really, do it.

Seriously? When is the last time you actually saw either a pocket protector or calculator before crafting that image.

That is not all we are as accountants, though, and even Hollywood is catching on. After all, this weekend brings “The Accountant” to movie theaters, complete with criminal intrigue, large weapons and a hashtag.

And that hashtag? #WhoIsTheAccountant

Who is the Accountant? Ben Affleck.  That’s right Batman is an accountant. And you thought we were lame. I can now only hope that Affleck can do for accountants what Clark Kent has done for mild-mannered newspaper reporters.

Even as one who works in the accounting industry, I am not sure exactly how this movie is going to play out. Will an anomaly on a balance sheet lead to the location of a terrorist cell? Will a secret code on a profit-and-loss statement contain nuclear secrets? Will the lead character discover some secret machinations that would allow one to take proclaim business losses of over $900 million in one year?

No way, not even Affleck could make those things plausible.

But it also makes one wonder what other occupations could be slated for a Hollywood reboot of their staid professions –

#WhoIsTheActuary – After years of studying tables that attempted to make mathematical sense of risk and uncertainty, Dale Hawkins (played by Casey Affleck, because nepotism reigns in profession-based movie storytelling) discovers a secret plot to control the weather of Fair Play, New Jersey (a real place). He questions why all the sudden it costs a lot of money there to protect one’s home from mountain rockslides, tropical cyclones and locust infestation. Something must be up and Hawkins is determined to find the answers.

#WhoIsTheTravelAgent – No, really, go out and tell all the young people in your life who these people were. They are about to be forgotten.

#WhoIsTheITProfessional – 97.43 percent of the problems Rusty McGuire (played by Matt Damon, because, well, you know …) runs into at work are solved by restarting someone’s computer. 78.76 percent of the time, though, people can’t even figure out how to do that.  He knows, because he runs the numbers. That is how much time he has to sit around at work with nothing to do. One day, however, while continuing to pluck away at his tasks at McCorp Corporation in Good Intent, New Jersey (another real place, the state apparently has a deep-seated need to be seen as ‘middling to good’) things take a dark and sordid turn. This time, when a computer was turned off in an attempt to solve an issue – IT THEN DIDN’T TURN BACK ON!

I hope you all can forgive me this week’s humorous digression (especially you IT professionals, I am sure you do good work at whatever it is you do). I promise to return next week with more on taxes, elections and whatever odd news comes from that world in the next seven days. In the meantime, if you need to talk to an accountant, remember we are not that bad – Batman says so. 

And I thought the presidential campaign tax talk was heating up when I wrote last week’s blog …

The temperature soared over the weekend, though, when the New York Times reported that Republican nominee Donald Trump took a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax returns. I deal with taxes all the time, and that number makes even me shake my head.  I shook my head even more, however, when the Trump campaign issued a statement saying that, “Mr. Trump knows the tax code far better than anyone who has ever run for President and he is the only one that knows how to fix it.”

My shock was not because I think someone should not be allowed to leverage the tax system to the greatest advantage allowed by law (heck, one of the best parts of my job is helping clients find money in that system that they did not know they were entitled to), but I think it’s naïve to imagine that Trump himself and his personal knowledge of the tax code was the driving force that helped him arrive at those numbers.

I don’t know how large an army of tax advisors/accountants were needed to fill out such a tax return – and this was a 1995 return, when technology was not as robust and helpful as it is now – but it was sizeable. This isn’t a political statement, just a statement from someone who thinks tax preparers do good work that should be noted.

Even if, yes, it is also a self-serving statement from a tax preparer.

In the vice presidential debate Tuesday night, it took only about five minutes for taxes to be first mentioned. Then it was only about 10 minutes more before taxes heated up again, including some pointed discussion about Trump’s paying of taxes, or lack thereof.

Leaving the political issues aside from these recent events, however, can help illumine a lesson for everyone. Even if the numbers on Trump’s tax return induce head shaking, they appear legitimate as the campaign has not denied the report. And even if the amount is mind-bending, there do not appear to be reasons to believe it was arrived at through underhanded or illegal means.

So although I will fight back and question how much Trump’s personal knowledge of the tax code led to this outcome, knowledge of the tax code still served him well. This is not a number that someone(s) without an extreme level of tax knowledge could have arrived at, after all. Therefore, it is also not a number that one would not want to deal with alone, or with limited knowledge of the rules (or with over-the-counter tax software). Getting help from someone who has expertise in the area is necessary to successfully deal with such a situation.

But then is there any number that should make one comfortable in a go-it-alone situations? Could professional assistance not help everyone and also offer an increased level of confidence and support? This story shows how complicated tax pictures can be, but it also highlights how understanding all the workings of that situation could benefit someone. A qualified and knowledgeable tax preparer can be worth more than their fee in the money they can save you.

Even if, yes, that is a self-serving statement from a tax preparer.