I have a client who is an employee of a Chinese company that has no offices in the US. He is paid by an intermediary company, will receive a W-2 from the intermediary and has to pay out of pocket for office rent and other expenses like telephone, supplies, etc. He is in NY and pays NY Taxes also.

With the tax law change of 2018 eliminating deductions for Employee Business Expenses (Form 2106) for all but four exceptions; Does anyone see an additional exception that would allow deducting the out of pocket expense since he does not get reimbursed for the office expenses? The only way he can avoid the out of pocket expense is to work from home, which he doesn't want to do. Any help would be appreciated.