Prior to TCJA there were a wider range of allowed deductions for W2 workers.

You would not be able to (legally) do that today

I believe that. It's been a very long time, since I declared anything like that. I think I remember my accountant telling me that I couldn't anymore, so I shrugged, and declared what I could. Also, I retired in 2017.

Thanks for not immediately going on the attack.

For programmers it wasn't that big of a deal. Maybe some electronics purchases were no longer deductible, or a little bit of software, etc. Home office could be sizeable.

Some other professional got royally screwed - e.g. a concert violinist can no longer deduct a $50,000 violin purchase if they're employed by an orchestra as a W2

Doubt it. Don't forget that they also have a stake in things. That's why we pay them.

That's why I say we should have accountants.

I'm always thrilled to have strangers on the Internet attack me, and even attack an accountant that they never even heard about before. Thanks!

Have a great day!

I didn't attack you, I'm sorry you took it that way.

Have a great day, or whichever passive aggressive sign-off you'd prefer!