Tax season...some love it, some not so much. As a business owner, taxes can be daunting and can leave you owing mucho dinero if you're not organized and if you're not utilizing the business deductions that the government has allowed you to use. Luckily there are lots of things that can be deducted on your taxes that are related to running your business/blog. Obviously if you have a business you can take advantage of many of the deductions available, but if you are a blogger and your blog is your business (a legit registered business), you can take advantage of these deductions as well! The key to tax prep for businesses/bloggers especially if you're a one man show is to utilize automation throughout the year and be aware of expenses that you can be deducting that you may not already be aware of.
Today I will be sharing with you a list of tax deductions that you may be able to use for your blog/biz.
Disclaimer: I'm not a tax specialist and recommend that you consult with your accountant for your personal tax situation.
Transaction Fees
Etsy transaction and listing fees
Credit card processing fees (PayPal, Stripe, Cash app, Square, etc.)
Annual fee for business credit card
Research
Books and magazines related to your blog/biz niche or general business related topics.
Videos, DVDs and audio related to your niche.
Podcast subscriptions
Services
Professional Blog/Biz photography (head shots, outfits, home tours, etc.)
Professional product photography
Graphic Design services (this includes work provided from fiverr.com as well)
SEO optimization services
Purchases from Creative Market (i.e. templates, fonts, images, etc.)
Videography (ex: videos for sales pages, promotional pages, info pages, etc.)
Printed and Digital Materials- Branding/Identity
Logo
Business cards
Letterhead
Website (template or custom design from designer; also Big Cartel, Squarespace, Shopify etc. monthly/annual fees)
Your domain name (also all URLs associated to your blog/biz)
Web space (hosting)
Custom e-mail address (Ex: Gmail for work)
Blog design (templates and custom design from designer)
Social media icons
Subscription Services
Payments for access to digital resource libraries
Cloud storage services
Buffer paid plans
Hootsuite paid plans
Evernote paid plans
Adobe Creative Cloud
Education
College (obvi) and continuing education
Online courses (not only traditional college courses, but also courses that are taught by bloggers, thought leaders, creative biz owners and the like)
Training videos/DVDs
Workshops
Conferences
Marketing
Digital ads (ex: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google ads, blog ads, etc.) and printed ads.
Email service provider (paid services; Ex: MailChimp, Convertkit, Leadpages, etc.)
Thank you cards
Items purchased for a giveaway that you are hosting (ex: gift cards, products, services, etc.)
Other
PO Box rental fee
Business license renewal fee
Sales tax payments to your city/state/local government
Stock photography
Equipment rental fees (ex: screen printer, letterpress, 3D printer, etc.)
Paid apps related to blog/biz
Fonts
Virtual assistant fees
Mailing/packaging supplies
Postage
Postage scales
There are SO many more deductions that can be taken, but there are entirely too many to cram into this post. Because of this, I have created a handy guide listing many more tax deductions that your blog/biz may be able to use. Just know that you should have your stuff together, meaning a business license and any other filings that you need to have in order to operate a business in your city/county/state. etc.
Click below to gain access to the free, handy tax deduction guide for creatives!
You may also be wondering how to keep all of these receipts organized for tax season (yes, you need to keep your receipts, boo). I've found the easiest way is to first use an accounting software that integrates with my business debit card so that transactions are recorded (and even categorized) automatically. This saves a boat load of time and makes tax filing so much more fluid. Afterwards, you can either scan the physical receipts into your computer and save them to a folder for such things, or you can file the paper receipt away into a physical folder if you like to keep it old school. For any transactions that aren't automatically recorded into your accounting program, manually enter those details into the software weekly so that you don't overwhelm yourself come tax season.
If you haven't filed your taxes yet, perhaps some of these items will be something that you can record as a tax deduction (if you have the receipts!). I hope that this post was an eye-opener and will be helpful to you!
Enjoy the weekend.
P.S. Here's the link again to gain access to the complete list of potential business expenses.
