Every work cost you can prove comes off your 1099 income. Every one you can’t prove, you pay tax on as if you never spent it. That’s the whole case for keeping receipts. Here’s exactly what to keep, how long, and the easiest way to not lose it.
What to keep
Money in
- Every 1099 form you get (1099-NEC from the companies you work for; 1099-K if you were paid through a payment app or card processor).
- Pay statements from each company, especially ones that show deductions like chargebacks, truck rental or insurance taken out.
- Your own record of every check or deposit. Companies only have to send you a 1099 if they paid you $2,000 or more in 2026 (it was $600 before 2026). You owe tax on all of it either way, so your own record is the one that counts.
Money out for work
- Receipts for tools, meters, ladders, supplies, safety gear and uniforms
- Phone bills, if you count the work share
- Parking and tolls on work trips
- Insurance, licenses, certifications and training
- Anything else you count as a work cost
Miles
- Odometer readings (a dated photo is ideal) at the start and end of each month or year
- Your personal miles
- Job history from your work app showing dates and addresses
Payments to the IRS and your state
- The confirmation for every quarterly payment: date, amount, confirmation number
What a good receipt shows
The store, the date, what you bought, and the total. A card statement alone shows the store and amount but not what you bought, so “$212 at Home Depot” could be a ladder or a grill. Keep the itemized receipt, or write on it what the item was.
Pictures are fine
The IRS accepts digital copies of receipts as long as they’re clear and complete. That’s good news, because the thermal paper most stores use fades to blank in a hot truck within months. Take a picture the day you buy the thing. Make sure the store, date, items and total are readable.
How long to keep it
| Record | Keep for |
|---|---|
| Most receipts, 1099s and records for a tax year | At least 3 years after you file that year’s return |
| If income was left off a return by more than 25% | 6 years |
| Records for a truck, expensive tool or equipment you’re writing off over several years | As long as you own it, plus 3 years after you sell or get rid of it |
| Your filed tax returns | Keep them for good. They’re what you use to verify your identity on IRS Direct Pay, and lenders ask for them. |
The simple version: keep everything for at least 3 years after you file, and longer for vehicles and big tools.
Where to keep it
Somewhere that survives a lost or broken phone. A shoebox of fading paper in the truck doesn’t count. Good options:
- Pictures saved on your phone and backed up to cloud storage
- A spreadsheet with one row per receipt, plus a folder of the pictures
- An app built for it
The test: could you hand it over in five minutes?
At tax time, your preparer wants a total for each kind of cost, the miles, the money in from each company and every payment you made. If you can hand that over in one file, you’ll pay less for the preparer’s time and you’ll get credit for everything you spent.
That’s what Tech Tax Helper builds as you go. Snap a receipt when you buy something, record each check, take two odometer pictures a month. At tax time one button makes a single file with a plain summary, all the numbers, and every receipt and odometer picture. It saves everything to a yearly Google Sheet and your own Google Drive, so a lost phone doesn’t take your records with it.
This is general information about U.S. federal taxes, not advice for your situation. If something here doesn't match your paperwork, ask a tax preparer.