Gig work expenses
This page states the conditions the rules attach to the costs of the work. It does not tell anyone what comes off their return.
What the rules say
True whichever side of the class line you are on
- A deduction is allowed for the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred in carrying on a trade or business.
- Except as expressly provided, no deduction is allowed for personal, living or family expenses.
Where the work is employment
Some of what follows exists only on one side of the class line. Where the class is not settled, we state the condition and stop rather than guessing which side you are on.
- For an employee, unreimbursed work costs fall in the miscellaneous itemized deduction category, which is disallowed for taxable years beginning after 2017 with no scheduled expiry.
What a person would have to know first
These are the facts the rules turn on. We do not supply any of them for you.
- the purpose of each expense
Costs readers ask about
Personal, living and family costs are not business costs, and calling something a cost of the work does not change that. Each item below is a question about conditions, not a list of things that come off automatically.
- Fees or commissions a platform takes out of a payment: the question is whether the cost is ordinary and necessary in carrying on the business, and whether the route to any business deduction is open for that class.
- A phone and its service: the question is what portion of the use is in carrying on the business, and whether the personal portion has been separated out.
- Equipment bought for the work, such as a bag, a rack or a camera: the question is whether the cost is a current expense or is recovered over time under the capitalisation and depreciation rules.
- Supplies used up doing the work: the question is whether the item is ordinary and necessary in carrying on the business.
- Parking and tolls incurred while carrying out the work: the rules treat these separately from the per-mile method, and they still have to be substantiated.
- Clothing: the question is whether the item is suitable for ordinary use, because personal clothing is a personal cost whatever the work requires.
- Food eaten while working: meals have their own limits and their own conditions, and being at work is not one of them.
Where the work is employment
Some of what follows exists only on one side of the class line. Where the class is not settled, we state the condition and stop rather than guessing which side you are on.
- For a worker whose stated facts place the activity in employment, there is no route to a depreciation or § 179 deduction for property used in that work: the deduction would be a miscellaneous itemized deduction, and no miscellaneous itemized deduction is allowed. That disallowance no longer has an expiration date.
Where the person is carrying on a business of their own
Some of what follows exists only on one side of the class line. Where the class is not settled, we state the condition and stop rather than guessing which side you are on.
- A depreciation deduction is allowed for the exhaustion and wear and tear of property used in a trade or business, with recovery periods and methods prescribed by statute.
- An election to expense the cost of property under § 179 requires property acquired for use in the active conduct of a trade or business, and is subject to dollar, investment and taxable income limitations.
- Depreciation for a passenger automobile is limited to stated annual amounts, and claiming accelerated depreciation or a § 179 deduction for an automobile removes the standard mileage rate for that automobile in later years.
What a person would have to know first
These are the facts the rules turn on. We do not supply any of them for you.
- the extent of business use of the property
- the dollar limitation figures for the year in question
- what depreciation method was previously claimed for the automobile
- that the stated facts place this particular work in employment rather than self-employment
We do not calculate an amount for anyone. Nothing here produces a figure for your return.
Where this comes from
Every source on this page shows the body that issued it and the date we read it. The federal text behind this center was last read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 162 — Trade or business expensesUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: A deduction is allowed for the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred in carrying on any trade or business. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 262 — Personal, living, and family expensesUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Except as otherwise expressly provided, no deduction is allowed for personal, living, or family expenses. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 67 — 2-percent floor on miscellaneous itemized deductionsUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Miscellaneous itemized deductions are not allowed for the years covered by subsection (g). Read on 2026-08-16.
- Public Law 119-21, § 70110 — Termination of miscellaneous itemized deductions other than educator expensesUnited States Congress (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Section 67(g) is amended by striking the January 1, 2026 end date, so the disallowance applies to taxable years beginning after 2017 without a scheduled expiry. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 167 — DepreciationUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: A depreciation deduction is allowed for the exhaustion and wear and tear of property used in a trade or business. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 168 — Accelerated cost recovery systemUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Recovery periods and methods are prescribed for property to which the section applies. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 179 — Election to expense certain depreciable business assetsUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: A taxpayer may elect to treat the cost of § 179 property as an expense, subject to dollar and investment limitations and a taxable income limitation. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 280F — Limitation on depreciation for luxury automobiles; listed propertyUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Depreciation for a passenger automobile is limited to stated annual amounts. Read on 2026-08-16.
- Rev. Proc. 2019-46 — Optional standard mileage rates; rules for using optional standard mileage ratesInternal Revenue Service. Read for: Section 4.01: a taxpayer may use the business standard mileage rate to substantiate a deduction for an automobile the taxpayer owns or leases, subject to the limitations in section 4.05. Read on 2026-08-16.