A virtual assistant belongs on Line 11, contract labor.
Why line 11
A virtual assistant who invoices you, works for other clients and sets their own hours is not an employee, so their pay is contract labor on line 11. It does not matter whether they are in another state or another country; the deduction depends on the expense being for your business, not on where the person sits. A foreign assistant with no US activity gets no 1099-NEC, but you should hold a Form W-8BEN instead of a W-9 to show why.
Stop looking up lines one at a time. ClaryBook totals your year into an IRS Schedule C worksheet in form order, Part I and Part II line by line, so a virtual assistant lands on Line 11 without you sorting it.
Start for freeWhat a virtual assistant is confused with
- Line 26, wages
- An assistant you schedule, train and supervise hour by hour is an employee, which puts the pay on line 26 and brings payroll filings with it.
- Line 27a, other expenses
- If you buy assistant hours from an agency as a packaged service, many preparers itemise the invoice as outside services on line 27a; either line is defensible as long as it is consistent.
Examples that belong on line 11
- 1,200 dollars for 60 hours of inbox and calendar work at 20 dollars an hour
- A 450 dollar monthly retainer to a VA who books your appointments
- 350 dollars to a contractor who cleaned up your CRM data
- A 15 dollar an hour assistant hired through an offshore agency
- 800 dollars to a part-time contractor handling customer email
What does not belong here
- Your own admin time, which has no deductible value
- Household or personal errands the assistant also runs for you
- Software the assistant uses, which is line 18
- A staffing or placement fee paid to find them, which is line 27a
The limit that applies
For payments made in 2026 and later, the 1099-NEC threshold is 2,000 dollars per payee per year, up from 600 dollars before 2026; foreign contractors with no US-source work are outside the 1099-NEC system.
What to keep
Keep the invoices or timesheets, the payment record, and a W-9 for US payees or a W-8BEN for foreign ones. If the assistant does both business and personal work, log the split so only the business share hits line 11.
Other expenses on line 11
| Expense | Line |
|---|---|
| a freelance developer or designer | Schedule C, Line 11 |
| a freelance editor or bookkeeper | Schedule C, Line 11 |
| a freelance photographer | Schedule C, Line 11 |
| a staffing agency invoice | Schedule C, Line 11 |
| a subcontractor on a client project | Schedule C, Line 11 |
| a website bug fix by a contractor | Schedule C, Line 11 |
Related lookups
Sources
This page explains how Schedule C lines work. It is general information, not tax advice for your situation. If an expense is large or the answer turns on a fact about your business, confirm it with your tax preparer.
Looking for a different expense? The full Schedule C line lookup has every line from 8 to 27 with the expenses that belong on each, and Schedule C expense categories walks the whole form in order.
Stop looking up lines one at a time. ClaryBook totals your year into an IRS Schedule C worksheet in form order, Part I and Part II line by line, so a virtual assistant lands on Line 11 without you sorting it.
Start for free