Employee Business Expense Deduction Reinstatement Act of 2025

This bill brings back a tax write-off for certain work costs that employees pay out of pocket and don’t get reimbursed for. It lets you claim 85% of unreimbursed food, lodging, travel, and transportation costs you pay while doing your job, as a “miscellaneous itemized deduction.” It also lowers the hurdle so more of these costs count by switching the threshold from 2% of your income to 1% of your income.

It applies as if it had been part of the 2017 tax law. If this change would create a refund for a past year but your normal deadline has already passed, you get a special one-year window after the bill becomes law to file for that refund.

• Who is affected: Employees who pay their own job-related food, lodging, travel, or transportation costs and aren’t reimbursed by their employer.
• What changes: You can deduct 85% of those costs as an itemized deduction; the threshold is lowered from 2% to 1% of income.
• When: Treated as if included in the 2017 tax law, with a one-year grace period to claim related refunds after enactment.