My husband is an hourly employee, but his employer requires him to own his own vehicle that is used daily for his job. Can we deduct some of it?

[xmasbaby0]

W-2 employees cannot deduct job-related expenses on a federal return.  Job-related expenses were eliminated as a federal deduction for W-2 employees by the tax laws that changed for 2018 and beyond.  Your state tax laws might be different in AL, AR, CA, HI, MN, NY or PA.

If you live in a state that lets you deduct job-related expenses, the information will flow from your federal return  to the state return, so enter it in Federal>Deductions and Credits>Employment Expenses>Job-Related Expenses

[MinhT1]

As an employee, job-related expenses are not deductible.

Up to tax year 2017, job-related expenses were deductible as an itemized deduction subject to the 2% of AGI floor.

Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, itemized deductions for job-related expenses subject to the 2% of AGI floor are suspended for expenses incurred after December 31, 2017 through 2025.

Therefore, your car expenses as an employee is no longer deductible for tax year 2024 on your Federal return.

Certain states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania) allow a deduction for unreimbursed employee business expenses. You enter your job-related expenses on your Federal return and they will flow through to your state return.

[Hal_Al]

Depends on what you mean by "hourly employee".  If his yearly pay is reported on an IRS W-2 form, then no, you cannot deduct any vehicle expense or mileage.  If you are a regular W-2 employee, you are no longer (effective 2018) allowed to deduct mileage and other job expenses.  Even when you were allowed to, it was only an itemized deduction subject to the 2% of AGI threshold.

Talk to your employer about getting reimbursed.  The employer is allowed to deduct mileage reimbursement to employees. When done right, the reimbursement is not taxable income to you.

If his pay is reported on a form 1099 (usually a 1099-NEC), then yes, you can claim the full mileage deduction rate,  This is because he is considered by the IRS to be self employed.