The last agent had me delete my return! can it be retrieved?

If you are self-employed or an independent contractor (your pay gets reported on a Form 1099-NEC rather than a W-2) then you can certainly deduct the cost of tools and supplies as a business expense.

• Under the Business tab, select Business expenses > Other common business expenses;
• Scroll down to Supplies;
• This will take you to a screen where you may list categories of supplies (i.e., hand tools, supplies, etc.) and the associated amounts.

If you are an employee (pay is reported on Form W-2), you can claim those tools and supplies as an unreimbursed employee expense on Schedule A. This will only be a benefit to you if you itemize your deductions rather than taking the standard deduction.

 

-Further, unreimbursed employee expenses are subject to the 2% rule, meaning that you can only deduct the portion of the expense that exceeds 2% of your Adjusted Gross income.

 

For more information, please see IRS Pub. 529 Miscellaneous Deductions.

 

But further.......employee job expenses on Schedule A have been suspended.  See Deductions that have been suspended for 2018-2025

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4482873-which-federal-tax-deductions-have-been-suspended-by-tax-reform