Generally speaking, it is better to treat a given item as an expense, rather than an asset.
The particular reasons have to do with more advanced concepts of accounting, capitalization of assets and depreciation; but in simple terms an "expense" is an immediate thing that gives you a tax benefit all at once in the current year; whereas an "asset" is something that gives you a smaller tax deduction benefit spread out over several future years.
And because of the time value of money principle, an immediate deduction is more beneficial than a stream of multiple future deductions, even if the nominal dollar values add up to the same thing. This is another way of saying that receiving $100 dollars now is a better thing than getting $50 dollars next year plus $50 dollars the following year (although both totals are $100).
Sometimes the tax code gives us choices like this (expense now or create an asset), and sometimes it doesn't.
Additionally, when taking deductions of any sort, please be aware of the fact that sometimes a taxpayer won't see any actual change on their tax return -- or an increase in their refund -- by claiming tax deductions. This is because in any given year a taxpayer has to have enough total itemized deductions in order to exceed the standard deduction for their filing status. For instance, in 2016 for a single taxpayer under age 65, this standard deduction is $6,300. If someone does not have more than enough itemized deductions to overcome this figure, then it won't matter how they count their job deductions, either as expenses or as assets.
Thank you for asking this question.
