What are 1099 tax deductions?
When a client pays you as a contractor instead of an employee, it usually reports the pay on Form 1099-NEC. Your 1099 tax deductions are the business costs you subtract on Schedule C (Form 1040), which reduces the profit you report.
The IRS decides whether you are a contractor by weighing the whole relationship, including behavioral control, financial control and the type of relationship. The form alone does not settle it.
What can I deduct as a 1099 worker?
Costs that are ordinary and necessary for your work, such as:
- Tools and supplies you use in the work (see our guide Are Tools Tax Deductible)
- Protective gear and work clothes that pass the IRS test (see Are Uniforms Tax Deductible)
- Car miles for business trips, at the standard mileage rate of 70 cents a mile for 2025 or at actual cost, not both, with a mileage log
- Travel away from your tax home overnight: lodging, and generally 50% of meals
- The business share of costs you use for work and personal life, such as a phone
- A home office, if you use part of your home regularly and exclusively for the business
- Advertising, bank fees, licenses and regulatory fees, and education expenses, which Publication 334 lists among other expenses you can deduct
What can I not deduct?
Publication 334 lists personal, living and family expenses, entertainment expenses and dues to business, social, athletic, luncheon, sporting, airline and hotel clubs among the things you usually cannot deduct. Ordinary clothes are personal unless they meet the work clothes test.
What proof should I keep?
The IRS asks that your documents show who you paid, the amount, proof that you paid, the date and what you bought, described well enough to show it was for the business. Write the business reason on the receipt the day you get it. Our guide How to Organize Receipts for Taxes shows a simple setup.
Where do I report 1099 deductions?
On Schedule C (Form 1040). Amounts you deduct under the de minimis safe harbor for tangible property go in as other expenses in Part V.
Sources: IRS Publication 334 (2025), Tax Guide for Small Business (read October 30, 2026); IRS Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses, chapter 5 (read October 30, 2026); IRS, Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee? (read October 31, 2026); IRS, What kind of records should I keep (read October 30, 2026); IRS, Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (2025), Part II expense lines (read October 30, 2026).
Every deduction needs its proof
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