I have a lot more expenses than 1099-NEC income but not enough to beat the standard deduction. Do I even need to fill in my deductions/expenses (car/advertising/etc?

[robtm]

If the standard deduction exceeds your itemized deductions then it is best to use the standard deduction. You do not need to enter your itemized deductions if you chose the standard deduction.

[Opus 17]

You are confusing two different things.

If you file a schedule C for self-employment, you list all your income and all your "ordinary and necessary" expenses of your work.  You calculate your net income (profit after expenses) and that flows to the rest of your tax return.

Personal itemized deductions (or using the standard deduction) is on schedule A and is completely separate from work expenses.  Your personal deductions (charity, state and local taxes, medical expenses) have nothing to do with your work expenses.

[Mike9241]

if you have NEC income that goes on schedule C. business-related expenses like car and advertising are reported on Schedule C  and have no effect on the standard deduction. you will overpay your self-employment taxes, usually about 14% of schedule C income, if you don't report your proper business expenses on Schedule C. 

[SharonD007 · Accepted solution]

Yes, you should deduct your expenses from your self-employment income that you received on a 1099-NEC form that you report on a schedule C. You may be confusing employment deductions/expenses with the standard and itemized deductions. The IRS allows every taxpayer to deduct a certain amount of money from their income which is called the standard deduction or itemized deductions. This lowers the taxpayers taxable income. For more explanation, please see the TurboTax article Standard Deduction vs. Itemized Deductions: Which Is Better?

Since you have a 1099-NEC, you are allowed to deduct business expenses from your business income. This is in addition to the standard or itemized deduction that you deducted. You mentioned that your expenses exceed your income. Please make sure the expenses that you are deducting are ordinary and necessary for your specific trade or business. 

Please review the TurboTax articles Reporting Self-Employment Business Income and Deductions for more information on business deductions.  For examples of industry specific expenses, review the TurboTax Help article What self-employed expenses can I deduct?   Once you review, you can determine exactly what your ordinary and necessary expenses are and your expenses may not exceed your 1099-NEC income.

Edited 3/2/23 8:08pm PST

@AP1015 

[Hal_Al]

Q. Do I even need to fill in my deductions/expenses (car/advertising/etc)?

A. Yes. In fact, you are required to enter all your allowable deductions.

And you want to enter them, because you get those deductions in addition to your standard deduction.