UNDERSTANDING PERSONAL DEDUCTIONS
Every taxpayer gets either the standard deduction OR personal itemized deductions. You cannot take both.
You can only take personal itemized deductions if they add up to MORE than the standard deduction for your filing status.
**Personal itemized deductions are not the same as self-employed business deductions/expenses (aka Schedule C).
UNDERSTANDING WORK-RELATED DEDUCTIONS (aka Schedule C)
Work-related deductions are taken from your self-employed or freelance income BEFORE any personal deductions are taken. It will lower your adjusted gross income (AGI).
You can ONLY deduct work-related expenses from income that is reported on a 1099-NEC or a 1099-K or that is self-reported. This would be considered self-employed or freelance income. No work-related expenses can be deducted from income reported on a W-2.
Want to know which self-employed expenses you can take? Head over to our blog post about Self-Employed Expense Categories.
An Example:
If you don’t have any self-employed income, your filing status is Single in 2025, and you don’t have personal itemized deductions that add up to more than $15,000, you will get the standard deduction of $15,000. If you have personal itemized deductions of any amount over $15,000, such as $18,500, you will get a total personal deduction of $18,500.
If you do have self-employed income, you can lower that income by taking the appropriate work-related deductions from that income. Then, you would apply the same scenario explained above.
More questions? Contact one of our tax preparers today.
**Please note that tax law can change often, so the above information may have changed since publication of this post. Always consult with a tax preparer.