There is a difference between a "statutory employee" and a regular employee who has employee business expenses. If you are a statutory employee, the statutory employee box will be checked on your Form W-2. Only these employees qualify as statutory employees:
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A driver who distributes beverages (other than milk) or meat, vegetable, fruit, or bakery products; or who picks up and delivers laundry or dry cleaning, if the driver is your agent or is paid on commission.
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A full-time life insurance sales agent whose principal business activity is selling life insurance or annuity contracts, or both, primarily for one life insurance company.
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An individual who works at home on materials or goods that you supply and that must be returned to you or to a person you name, if you also furnish specifications for the work to be done.
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A full-time traveling or city salesperson who works on your behalf and turns in orders to you from wholesalers, retailers, contractors, or operators of hotels, restaurants, or other similar establishments. The goods sold must be merchandise for resale or supplies for use in the buyer’s business operation. The work performed for you must be the salesperson's principal business activity.
If you are a statutory employee, you can claim business expenses on Schedule C which is a benefit for the very, very few people who qualify as statutory employees.
If you are not a statutory employee but are a regular employee with employee business expenses, select the federal taxes tab, then select “deductions & credits.” Click on “I’ll choose what I work on” then select “employment expenses.” The interview will ask about employee business expenses (job-related expenses) in this section. These expenses are a miscellaneous deduction subject to 2% of your adjusted gross income and are claimed on Schedule A (Itemized Deductions) for years prior to 2018.
[Edited on 03/21/2020 | 12:28 pst]
