<prompt> Human: I have a sales job where I make about 67k with salary and commission in CA. My spouse is looking at starting a 1099 consulting job but we are concerned about the tax implications. Here are some of the facts: We have 2 kids under 10. We both have student debt. The 1099 job should make about 500month. We were looking into the possibility of her deducting her cell phone, gas, clothing, etc on her taxes. Our main concern is that this could make us get a smaller refund.Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!  <response>: Getting a smaller refund is a really dumb reason for your wife not to do this work. You will certainly get a smaller refund, but you as a couple will be earning more money. You will net more money even if your refund is smaller. You can deduct the portion of her cell phone bill she uses for work. You can only deduct clothing that cant be worn in any circumstance other than the work. If shes a realtor, for example, you cant deduct blouses and slacks or other every day clothing, but if shes a nurse you could deduct medical clothing like scrubs. You can certainly try to deduct whatever you want, but it might not hold up to an audit. 