The IRS isn’t known for cutting to the chase. If you’ve ever dug through IRS.gov looking for an answer to your question, you likely came away with much more information than you could ever want.
That is, unless you happened to be looking for a straightforward list of tax deductions for your small business. The IRS is uncharacteristically silent on this point.
In fact, tracking down the ultimate list of small business tax deductions is a grueling task that takes hours and hours of research. But lucky for you, we’ve gone ahead and put it together for you! We uncovered 92 potential small business tax deductions—and 11 that you shouldn’t even think about claiming.
Download your copy of the Entrepreneur’s tax pack for 3 time-saving business tax resources.
Each tax deduction has its own specific rules, so consult an expert before you get too excited. (If you’re an inDinero client, talk to your account manager!) And remember: Not every one of these will apply to you. For example, you may be tempted to deduct a home office, but won’t get very far if you also have an office at your place of business.
As always, document, document, document. A shoebox full of receipts doesn’t quite cut it. Always note the business reason for the expense, even if you just write it on the back of a receipt. (But if that gets cumbersome look for a good accounting solution, like ours, that can streamline the process for you.)
92 small business tax deductions
- Accounting fees
- Advertising & marketing
- Amortization
- Bad debts that you cannot collect
- Banking fees
- Board meetings
- Building repairs and maintenance
- Business association membership dues
- Business travel (here’s what you need to know!)
- Cafeteria health-insurance plan (requires plan)
- Car expenses
- Charitable deductions made for a business purpose
- Charity or traveling to perform charitable services
- Cleaning/janitorial services
- Collection expenses
- Commissions to outside parties
- Computers and tech supplies
- Consulting fees
- Continuing education for yourself to maintain licensing and improve skills
- Contractors
- Conventions and trade shows
- Credit card convenience fees
- Depreciation
- Discounts to customers
- Eating out while you’re traveling for business
- Education and training for your employees
- Employee wages
- Employee benefits
- Entertainment for customers and clients
- Equipment
- Equipment repairs
- Exhibits for publicity
- Family members’ wages
- Franchise fees
- Freelancers
- Freight or shipping costs
- Furniture or fixtures
- Gifts for customers or employees ($25 deduction limit for each)
- Group insurance (if qualifying)
- Guard dog
- Gym for employees, located onsite
- Health insurance
- Home office (see our handy article)
- Insurance premiums for credit, liability, malpractice, worker’s comp, and other insurance
- Interest
- Internet hosting and services
- Inventory
- Investment advice and fees
- Legal fees
- License fees
- Management fees
- Materials
- Maintenance
- Medical expenses (with plan)
- Mortgage interest on business property
- Moving
- Newspapers and magazines
- Office supplies and expenses
- Outside services
- Payroll processing
- Payroll taxes for employees, including Social Security, Medicare taxes and unemployment taxes
- Parking and tolls
- Penalties and fines paid for late performance or nonperformance of contracts
- Pension plans
- Permits and fees
- Postage
- Profit sharing
- Publicity
- Prizes for contests
- Real estate-related expenses
- Rebates on sales
- Rent
- Research and development (we literally wrote the guide on this one!)
- Retirement plans
- Royalties
- Safe-deposit box
- Safe
- Service fees
- Software and online services
- Startup expenses
- Stereo equipment for playing background music at work
- Storage rental
- Subcontractors
- Taxes (amazingly, taxes incurred in running your business are deductible)
- Telephone
- Theft and loss
- Tips. Just because you didn’t get a receipt doesn’t mean you can’t deduct the cost, but you should document it just the same.
- Uniforms for your employees
- Utilities
- Waste removal
- Website design
- Workers’ compensation insurance
Don’t even think about trying to claim these as a small business tax deduction
- A small business loan—but you can deduct whatever you purchase with the loan
- Business attire that you can wear outside of work (ie, non-uniforms)
- Contributing your time to charity
- Membership dues, even to a professional organization
- Federal income tax payments
- Your life and disability insurance premiums if you’re a sole prop., partnership, or S Corporation
- Lobbyists
- Penalties and fines you pay as the result of breaking the law
- Political contributions
- Professional accreditation fees
- Your own salary if you’re a sole proprietor
