The Big Fat List of Small Business Tax Deductions for 2021

As a business owner, you have a huge amount of control over your business expenses….that means if you have a plan for your business in the up coming few years you can control your tax deductions.  But you need to know a few things:

Pick an Entity Type that works for you

Most companies start out as a sole proprietorship, an LLC or a Partnership.  You may need to determine when it’s appropriate to change over to a corporation as it may save you some money in the future. 

Whether you have an existing business or you’re just starting out, you have some choices about your entity type but you should contact an attorney to weigh some pros and cons of each one depending on the industry and type of your business.

Tax Law is Complicated

Major legislation, court cases, IRS rulings, and even natural disaster can all affect your taxes and they are constantly changing.

Many changes can benefit you as the business owner-but only if you know about them and you have time to respond.  Waiting for a once-yearly meeting with your CPA may not leave you enough time to learn about and manage these changes.

For example, in 2005, after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma struck the U.S. the government created several short-term tax savings opportunities for those affected. 

Make sure you check in with your tax specialist throughout the year so understand how these may affect you and your business.

There’s a Difference Between a Tax Credit and a Tax Deduction

Tax credit will reduce the amount of tax that you owe, giving you a dollar for dollar reduction of your tax liability.  Let’s say you’re eligible to receive a tax credit for hiring a military veteran of $1,000.  This will lower your tax bill by $1,000.  So, if you owe $10,000 you would only pay $9,000.  Now let’s say you actually get a refund of 500.00 if you add a tax credit instead you’ll receive $1,500.00

Tax deductions reduce how much of your income is subject to taxes to begin with.  Let’s say you make 100,000 but you have expenses of $10,000 your taxable income would be $90,000.  To reduce your tax, you need to keep track of your deductions (the most hated part of being a small business owner).

A tax deduction is an expense that you can deduct from your taxable income.  You take the amount of the expenses and subtract that from your taxable income.  Essentially, tax write-offs allow you to pay a smaller tax bill.  You just must make sure that your expenses are fitting the IRS criterial of a tax deduction. 

Below is a list of the standard deductions mostly used by sole proprietors, and s-corps or companies organized as partnerships and limited liability companies (LLCs).  Most of these are for your business but as solopreneurs you should be aware of some more personal deductions that business owners can take as well.

Expenses You Can Write Off for Your Small Business – Capitalized Expenses

Cost of Goods and Services

If you produce a product or even if you purchase them, those expenses will reduce your income, so your income is lower.  Just remember that these expenses can NOT be deducted as a regular business expense at the same time. If you’ve itemized them under cost of goods sold you can’t take them as a business expense.  If you’re not sure what is considered a cost of goods sold you can check out our article on What the Heck is Cost of Goods Sold.

Start Up and Organizational Costs

If you started your business in 2019 and beyond, and spend up to $5,000, you can deduct the full amount in the first year without having to capitalize the expense.  If you spent more than $5,000, you can deduct a percentage over 15 years.  Just make sure you know how much for each year.

Self-Employment Expenses to Deduct from your Small Business Taxes

Health Insurance Premiums

Self Employment Taxes

You still must pay a lot in social security, Medicare taxes that you pay throughout the year however, you may deduct 50% of it off your taxes. 

Standard Small Business Tax Deductions

Advertising

You already know that providing amazing goods and services isn’t enough to make your business succeed. You also need to advertise so your potential customers can find you. Advertising and marketing dollars can add up fast, but fortunately, they are all tax-deductible.  You can deduct everything that you use to advertise and market from business cards, to google ads.

Bad Debt

Sometimes clients just don’t pay (this sucks! but it is what it is).  You can deduct them.  You’ll just need to make sure that your bookkeeping system reflects them, and you have the paperwork showing that this money is uncollectable

Bank Fees

Pesky little 12-dollar charges and ATM fees suck to pay but they are tax deductible.

Advertising

You already know that providing amazing goods and services isn’t enough to make your business succeed. You also need to advertise so your potential customers can find you. Advertising and marketing dollars can add up fast, but fortunately, they are all tax-deductible.  You can deduct everything that you use to advertise and market from business cards, to google ads.

Bad Debt

Sometimes clients just don’t pay (this sucks! but it is what it is).  You can deduct them.  You’ll just need to make sure that your bookkeeping system reflects them, and you have the paperwork showing that this money is uncollectable

Bank Fees

Pesky little 12-dollar charges and ATM fees suck to pay but they are tax deductible.

Car and Truck Expenses

Let’s face it the biggest deductions you can make right away in your business is your car.  Make sure your keeping track of your expenses with a good mileage tracking program like MileIQ.  If you don’t want an automated way you can keep a log in your car and fill it out as you go.  Make sure that you include all the expenses for the trip including:

• Parking
• Tolls

For LLC and Sole Prop you’ll take the standard IRS mileage rate of .56 for 2021on every mile driven for business. 

S-Corp

S corps can make this a little bit more fun by filling out expense reports and reimbursement you and your employees for mileage.  Just make sure you have the reports and have filled out an expense report.  You’ll want to create an Accountable Plan for this expense.

Carryovers from Previous Years.

Some small business tax deductions carry over from year to year. For instance, if you had a capital loss in a previous year, you may be able to take it in the current year. Specifics often change from year to year, to make sure you’re up to date on the latest IRS regulations.

Charitable Donations

Yes, your small business can donate to charity and take a deduction for it. It can donate supplies, money, or property to a recognized charity, but pay attention to the rules before you go crazy giving stuff away. Donations of your time don’t count, and you can’t wipe out your business income with donations. Also, check with the IRS before you make a charitable deduction to make sure the organization you want to support qualifies for the deduction.

Cleaning and Janitorial Expenses

Do you have a janitorial service come in and clean your offices?  Well that’s tax deductible too.  If you use a cleaning service for your home and they clean your office a portion of that charge is tax deductible too.

Conventions and Trade Shows

Conventions, trade shows that networking group and any associations you belong to are all deductions for your taxes.  Make sure that you keep good records and can prove that the events are related to your business. 

Disaster and Theft Losses

If your business is unfortunate enough to suffer theft or to be the victim of a natural disaster during the year, you may be able to turn any losses that your insurance company didn’t reimburse into a small business tax deduction.

Education

As a lifelong learner, I take pride in my education whether it’s a seminar on the latest blockchain technology or new tax changes for the year.  Thankfully, you can claim these as education expenses and deduct them from your taxes.

You must pay taxes. But there’s no law that says you gotta leave a tip.  Morgan Stanley

Furniture and Equipment.

Did you buy new chairs for your eat-in bakery or new juicing blenders for your juice bar this year? You have a choice regarding how you take your small business tax deduction for furniture and equipment. You can either deduct the entire cost for the tax year in which it was purchased, or you can depreciate the purchases over a seven-year period. The IRS has specific regulations that govern your choices here, so make sure you’re following the rules and make the right choice between depreciation and full deduction.

Insurance

Every business should have business insurance which is tax deductible.  So, whether you have business, malpractice, business continuation or errors and omissions you can deduct it.

Intangibles

Getting a trademark or need to pay for franchise fees guess what?  They’re tax deductible.

Interest

This one is often overlooked but you can deduct the interest on a business loan.  Make sure you categorize the money as principle and the interest as interest and your good to go.  It doesn’t count if you take out a home loan only business loans count.

Home Office

If you do a lot of work at home, it may be time to take that deduction.  I know there is a huge myth about red flags and the IRS but if you keep your paperwork in order an audit will not be an issue.  Let’s take what we can get from the government.

 There are two methods for taking the home office deduction the simplified option and the regular method.  With the simplified option you cannot exceed 300 square foot of space and it must be exclusively used on a regular basis.  (so, you do a lot of administrative type work at home then this would be a great example.  This works even if you have a separate corporate or business office.

You can check out the simplified option vs. the regular method on the IRS website.  You can deduct or expense the following items using the same percentage as the office space

• Mortgage
• Real Estate Taxes
• Utilities
• Internet
• Phone

Home Renovations and Insurance

Did you take a deduction for a home office already? If so, business expenses related to any renovations to that part of your home are also deductible, and so is the percentage of your homeowner’s insurance that covers that part of your home. Remember, all small business deductions related to home offices only apply if you use part of your home exclusively for business.

Legal, Accounting and Professional Fees

Yes, if you can deduct my services.  Any consultant or professional that you hire to help you make money or deal within your business are deductible.  So if you need a lawyer, an accountant, or a business consultant you can add them to this list.

Machinery and Equipment Rental

Sometimes renting equipment for your coffee shop or concession stand is beneficial to your bottom line, since you can deduct these business expenses in the year they occur with no depreciation.

Maintenance, Repairs and Renovations

Move into a new space as you expanded this year?  Or maybe just routine maintenance on your existing space well those are tax deductible too.  If your using the home deduction you can and have renovated your office space, you can deduct those too.

Meals and Entertainment

Yes, you can take small business deductions for schmoozing your clients, if you do indeed discuss business with them, and if the entertainment occurs in a business setting and for business purposes. In some cases, you can’t deduct the full amount of your entertainment expenses, but every bit helps.

Here are some tips to guide when and what you can deduct:

• Exceptions include lavish and extravagant meals.
• At least one employee must be present at the mealor outing.
• The food and beverages must be provided to a current or potential business customer, client, consultant or similar business contact.
• Food and beverages provided during or at an entertainment activity may only be deducted as long as they are purchased separately from the entertainment or the cost of the food and beverages is stated separately from the cost of the entertainment on one or more bills, invoices, or receipts. 

You may deduct 100% of the costs of:

• Company cafeterias and executive dining rooms.
• Recreational and social activities held for employees.
• Meals provided as compensation or part of the company culture. 

Mortgage Interest

If your business owns its own building, even if it’s just a hot dog stand, you can deduct all your mortgage interest.

Non-Cash Gifts and Rewards

You can claim up to $25.00 for business gifts that you give to each client or potential customer.  So if your giving out Christmas gift cards your good to go.  You can spend as much as you want but only deduct the $25.00.

Office Supplies, Tools and Services

Even if you aren’t taking the home office deduction all of your business supplies and office expenses are tax deductible as long as they are used within the year they’re purchased.  Make sure you file your receipts with a great app like Expensify.  If shipping samples are a part of your business you can also deduct the postage, delivery and shipping costs (this is assuming you haven’t taken it in Cost of Goods Sold).

Qualified Business Income

Remember to claim the 20% deduction on qualified business income.  This rule was a part of the TCJA and you can find out more on what qualifies here.

Free Fillable Accountable Expense Policy:  Get our ” Sample Expense Policy and Calculator” that lets you craft an expense policy that saves you and your employees’ money.

Software

You may have a lot of subscription software like QuickBooks, Xero, or Microsoft office to name a few you can now deduct the full cost each year.

Taxes

I know it sounds a bit weird but there are some taxes that you can deduct.

• Employer-paid payroll taxes.
• Sales tax on day to day items
• Excise and fuel taxes
• State income taxes
• Real estate taxes on business properties

Travel

You already know you can deduct the cost of a tradeshow or conventions, but you can also deduct the travel to and from them too.  Make sure you keep all your receipts and fill out your expense reports for airfare, hotels, meals on the road.  If you drive to the convention you can take the standard mileage rate.  Don’t forget to tip your Uber driver and deduct that too.  Paying for parking at the convention center and hey if you live in Dallas you know you’ll be paying tolls make sure these get deducted as well.

Telephone

If your using your cell phone you may be able to deduct a portion of your bill as a business expense or add a new line just for your business and deduct 50% of your telephone bill

Tools

The IRS distinguishes between tools and equipment. While you may have to capitalize on equipment rather than deducting it in one year, you can deduct tools that aren’t expensive or that have a life of only a year or less. And for the IRS, “tools” doesn’t just refer to hammers or screwdrivers; your spatulas and cookie sheets are tools as well.

Unpaid Goods

If your business produces goods rather than providing a service, you can deduct the cost of any goods that you haven’t been paid for yet.

Utilities

Don’t miss the small business tax deductions for your electricity, mobile phone, and other utilities. If you use the home office deduction, your landline must be dedicated to your business to be deductible. 

Managing Your Small Business Tax Deductions

If you want to maximize your deductions and avoid last-minute mistakes, you must put a system in place right away.

Determine Your Accounting Method

You’ll need to determine which one is best for you the cash or accrual method.

Cash Method – Manage your cash when it comes in and goes out.

Accrual – Manage revenues and expenses when the transaction takes place.  So if you invoice a customer you recognize the invoice before they’ve actual paid for the service

Use a Good Accounting Software

Nowadays accounting software has come a long way and can manage your transactions in real time.  Though it still needs to be categorized correctly to get the maximum taxable deductions and credits.

A solid technology stack will help you get by automating receipts, transactions, projects and even more.  Let us know if your interested in how we go from total chaos to total control.

Putting it All Together

Once your business takes off, you’ll have to pay your estimated taxes if the business income taxes are more then $1,000.  Check out how to pay your estimated tax me every time.

Taxes are complicated.  Prior to your owning your business you paid your taxes through payroll deductions and then filed at the end of the year.  Now you’ll have to pay several times a year plus other scheduled payment like payroll taxes and sales taxes.

Keeping good records is a must and keeping compliant with all the tax codes can be a daunting task.  Make sure you hire a professional that can help you plan to take the maximum amount so you’re not missing out on valuable tax saving strategies that can help you keep more in your pocket.