I have been an IC/Mystery Shopper for over 10 years, and have been doing my own, and others, itemized taxes for other ICs. My personal opinion, and what I would do, is to take the one time write-off for any office equipment. I consider things like a laptop or mobile phone as office equipment. Another criteria to use would be anything that will probably not last more than 5, or maybe 7, years. However, I do depreciate my car. About 90% of my driving is for my IC work, and my husband has his own car. I drive between 15,000 and 25,000 miles per year, depending on what work I get. In order to take advantage of depreciation on your car you need to use "actual expenses." The "standard deduction" includes an allowance for depreciation. If you have an older car, say over 5 years old and/or one with a book value of less than $10,000, and drive no more than 10,000 miles, you will probably be better off using the standard deduction. Using actual expenses means you need to document every penny you spend on the car, including gas.