Tax Deduction for Dedicated Internet

April 4, 2024 9:36 AM

In addition to my full time job I work a part time remote job that requires me to have a wired internet connection into equipment they provide. Because of this I pay roughly $90 a month to maintain a separate internet connection for my home office. Many people have told me that I should be able to write this off on my taxes, but I'm not able to discover a way to do it without claiming to be self-employed (which I am not). Do you know how to do this?
posted by anastasiav to Law & Government (7 answers total)

I believe all such deductions (unreimbursed job-related expenses) were killed in the last "tax reform." So people think it's still possible, when it's not.
posted by praemunire at 9:41 AM on April 4 [6 favorites]

There's also the issue of whether you're already itemizing deductions or just using the standard deduction. If the total list of things you'd be able to itemize deductions for (including the internet connection, if you can find a way to do it) doesn't exceed the standard deduction, there's really no point in worrying about whether you can deduct it or not. If you're already itemizing, then it might be worth finding a way.

When I was freelancing and was actually self-employed I itemized stuff like this, but that also flagged something with my city where I then had to pay them a business tax.
posted by LionIndex at 9:46 AM on April 4 [2 favorites]

Best answer: On this page, the IRS says "You can no longer claim any miscellaneous itemized deductions that are subject to the 2%-of-AGI limitation, including unreimbursed employee expenses." Because nothing in tax law is ever simple, there are a few exceptions explained on that page, but they apply only in rare cases.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 9:50 AM on April 4 [4 favorites]

I believe this is the link Mr. Know-it-some meant to add: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p529
posted by Aleyn at 11:01 AM on April 4 [1 favorite]

Sadly, as far as I know, this only applies to self-employed income. And even if you could claim it, as others have noted (and I have myself experienced when claiming it and home office expenses), it often doesn't supersede the standard deduction anyway.

Lots of folks are in this same position... hopefully you can talk to your employer and maybe get some kind of compensation. I get some minor but non-zero monthly WFH stipend.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 11:12 AM on April 4

Not relevant to the question at hand, but just to clarify some not quite precise information above, when you're self-employed, business expenses (like home-office expenses, cost of inventory, etc.) get tallied in their own section on Schedule C, and get to be subtracted from business revenue before (and regardless of whether) itemizing deductions or taking the standard deduction on Schedule A.
posted by nobody at 11:50 AM on April 4 [4 favorites]

You mentioned that this is for a part-time job, not your full-time job. I know you said you're not self-employed, but I just wanted to check because oftentimes, a part-time job is contract/freelance. If you're classified as a contractor (getting a 1099), then you would be considered self-employed and can list the expenses for that part-time job in your Schedule C, which would reduce the amount that you'd be taxed on.
posted by sincerely yours at 11:43 AM on April 5