Hey Sharon. Hello, let's talk about uniforms. All right, this is, this is good stuff, right? This is one of the questions that we get a lot. What am I able to deduct that, you know, I take to work, or I wear to work, or, you know, I've had people want to deduct Hermes bags, you know, those Hermes bags and stuff. Hermes. You know, there's an inside joke there, right? Yes, I do know. And they want to carry their stethoscope in them to the hospital. Or, you know, I've had people ask, can I get a Rolex? Because I have to, I have to keep time when I'm in the OR. So can I deduct my Rolex? Sharon, you'd be amazed. But, you know what? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Exactly. So, but no, this is something that I think senior aides need to know, especially as you're 1099. When you're W-2, you never even think about these things. When you're 1099, you're paying your own taxes. And, you know, you're coming up with deductions. This is something that you really want to kind of work through. And you can deduct attire, such as scrubs, scrub hats, shoes, but there are some things to kind of keep in mind there. So one, there's a big test. Is it ordinary? And it's necessary. So that means in order to be ordinary, it's got to be something that is for your job. Every CRNA needs this. Every person in the OR needs this. You know, you probably don't need a drill for your job, right? Depends on what surgeon I'm working with, I guess. Probably wouldn't be ordinary or necessary either. So, so it's got to be ordinary and necessary. So think of some things that are ordinary and necessary for CRNAs. Well, a stethoscope, that's pretty ordinary and necessary, right? Scrubs, giving anesthesia naked is frowned upon. Yeah, I would think that I would think that would be very frowned upon. Of course, some people might enjoy it. You know, I'm just saying. Scrubs, foot attire, you know, that's interesting. No, you've got to have shoes for the OR. Sharon, let me ask you something. When you wear your shoes in the OR, what do you do with them at the end of the day? I leave them in the locker where I'm working at. I do have a locker in a couple of places. Other than that, they're in my car. If not, you wrap them up in a bag and you put them in there. Why? Because I only wear them in the operating room. Bingo. And that's the key. That is the key to being able to deduct foot attire is that it is only meant for work. And you and I both know that you go in that OR, blood splatters, germs are in there. You do not want to wear those shoes home. You don't even want to get them in your car probably. And you switch shoes out whenever you leave. So in that scenario, that is a necessary expense. Okay. And the key to that is not suitable for personal use. Now, scrubs, could you wear scrubs outside of work? Yes. You could. But they are meant for work and you're not going to wear scrubs everywhere you go. It's not like a pair of jeans and a nice blouse or something along those lines. Or if whoever you're working for is requiring you to do something, you're required to put your hair up, right? So what do you do that with? Scrub hat. Right. Do you wear that outside of work? No. No. And it's ordinary, it's necessary, and it is required. So that is the key to this. You know, you can't go out and buy a beautiful ballroom gown and think that you're going to be able to deduct that. One, you're not going to wear that in the OR. Two, you can wear it outside of the OR. And three, it's not ordinary nor necessary. Make sense? Got it. Okay. All right. So the other part of this, there are things that are non-deductible. Let's say that your hospital, wherever you're working, they furnish you with scrubs and you go out and buy other scrubs. Is that a deductible expense? Not if you've got scrubs provided for you. That's right. That's right. So it's got to be exclusively for work. If you've got scrubs provided for you, then no. No clothing items that you can wear to work. You know, I get that a lot. Oh, I wear this to work, but you don't wear it during work. You might wear it to work, but it's what you wear at work, which is scrubs. So those are things just to know about, you know, clothing and items and so forth. We get a lot of questions on that. Then really the differentiator here is one, not to be used outside of work, AKA your shoes, your scrubs, your scrub hat, those types of things. You're probably not going to wear those outside of work, but anything that you wear to work or anything you wear outside of work, personal clothing items and so forth are non-deductible. Just something else to know. Another one of those little caveats for you to understand as you're looking at 1099 or doing 1099, certain expenses are deductible and certain expenses are not.

tax deductions

work uniforms

healthcare professionals

CRNAs

deductible expenses