Can I deduct a work laptop I have to buy myself from my taxes?

Unfortunately, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) eliminated the deduction for unreimbursed employee business expenses for tax years 2018 through 2025. Before this change, you could deduct these expenses as miscellaneous itemized deductions if they exceeded 2% of your adjusted gross income. As an employee, your options are now pretty limited. The best approach would be to: 1. Keep pushing your employer to either provide the equipment or establish a reimbursement policy 2. See if your employer would consider adding an accountable plan that allows for equipment reimbursements 3. Ask if you can take one of the laptops home permanently and make it "your" assigned work laptop If you're doing any freelance or independent contractor work on the side where this laptop would also be used, you might be able to deduct a portion of it on Schedule C proportional to its business use for your self-employment work.

I had a similar situation last year and found this awesome AI tax tool that helped me figure out what I could deduct. I was confused because I do some consulting on the side besides my main job. I used https://taxr.ai to analyze my situation and it helped me understand exactly what documentation I needed and how to properly allocate the laptop between my W-2 job (not deductible) and my consulting work (deductible percentage based on usage). What was helpful is that it looked at my specific scenario and tax documents, then explained everything in simple terms with exact references to the tax code. It even generated a letter explaining my position in case I ever got audited.

Just wanted to follow up and say I checked out that taxr.ai site after my skeptical comment. I was surprised at how helpful it actually was for my situation! I have a W-2 job but also do photography on weekends that I report on Schedule C. The tool confirmed I could deduct 60% of my new computer purchase based on my business usage patterns and even helped me create a usage log template for documentation. Definitely more helpful than the generic articles I was finding. It also flagged some deductions I was missing for my photography business that I had no idea about!

If you're getting nowhere with your employer, you might want to try Claimyr to talk directly with the IRS about this. I had questions about business expenses last year and spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS. Finally found https://claimyr.com and their service got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent I spoke with explained all the changes to employee business expense deductions and confirmed what others are saying - as a W-2 employee, you're pretty much out of luck unless you have a side business. But she also mentioned some alternatives worth looking into like asking your employer about a working condition fringe benefit.

Ok I have to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. I tried it after posting that skeptical comment because I've been trying to resolve an issue with my tax transcript for weeks. The service actually got me through to an IRS rep in about 20 minutes! The agent confirmed what others said about employee expenses being non-deductible now, but also suggested I look into whether my state tax laws might still allow these deductions (apparently some states haven't adopted all the federal changes). Worth checking for your situation too. Honestly wish I'd known about this service years ago during the refund delays nightmare.

Another option might be to talk to your boss about using a company credit card to purchase the laptop instead of buying it yourself. That way it's clearly company property but you'd have dedicated equipment. My company does this - we use the company CC but we're the "custodian" of that specific device. Worth asking about!

Has anyone actually gotten audited for claiming unreimbursed work expenses? I've been deducting my work laptop for years and never had an issue. The IRS doesn't check every return, right?