First, I want to clarify by saying that I am not an accountant, lawyer, or tax consultant. I can only offer suggestions, but it is in your best interest to consult with an actual tax professional for questions relating to your online business income taxes.
With that being said, an online business, whether you are a blogger or an affiliate marketer. If you make any amount of money online, you can write off some expenses you accumulate in the process of making money online.
Tip:Here’s an article on how to file taxes as a blogger.
In this article, I will provide you with a list of tax deductions that you might be able to use for your online business. Without further ado, let’s get started!
Tax Deduction #1. Domains and Website Hosting
If you’re running a business on the internet, there’s a good chance that you have a website or maybe even several websites. Depending on what you do, the expenses can be very little or quite significant.
For example, a domain name will cost you roughly $15 per year while website hosting can cost you hundreds of dollars per year. It might not seem like much, but if you start paying for a few domain names plus upgraded website hosting plans. You’re going to be spending a shiny penny, so it only makes sense if you consider these as legitimate business expenses.
Tax Deduction #2. Seminars and Memberships
Do you attend seminars like the affiliate summit? What about masterminds for your niche space? Well, if you do spend money to attend these events. You can usually write off the registration and ticket fees when filing taxes for your online business.
Also, if you have memberships for services that help with your business. You can also write off these expenses! For example, I have a subscription to a logo maker, stock images, top list, and an all-in-one internet marketing platform. Since I do pay a fee for these services, I can use it as a write-off.
Tax Deduction #3. Business Lunches
Depending on where you live in the world, you can write off a certain percentage of food expenses. Sounds crazy, isn’t it? However, if you host meetup groups on a weekly basis, the cost of food can quickly stack up.
I sometimes host events on an app called Meetup. It allows me to connect with local entrepreneurs like myself and to set up group gatherings. Usually, I would have it at a restaurant where we could enjoy great food and also talk about what we can do to scale our businesses.— What seems to be a regular social gathering can be a legitimate business gathering.
Tax Deduction #4. Transportation Expenses
Well, the purpose of working from home is to minimize the amount of commute (transportation). However, depending on how you do in your online business. It might be worth it to track and file taxes with your transportation expenses.
For example, if you have to fly to a different state for a business conference. You’ll be spending quite a lot of money on transportation, so why not write it off?
Earlier this year, I had an affiliate group meet up in Southern California. I didn’t fly though! Instead, I drove and rented a hotel for the week. After consulting with my tax preparer, I was told that because the trip was for business. I could write it off at the end of this year as a business expense.— This includes my car’s gas, maintenance, depreciation, hotel, food, etc.
Tax Deduction #5. Home Office Expenses
Do you have a spare room used for conducting business? For me, I have a dedicated room for my online business. There, I have my adjustable table for my laptop as well as a 45″ television that I don’t even use.
Everything was designed to give me a comfortable workspace to help maximize my productivity. The laptop I purchased is an entry level $1,200.00 laptop designed for gaming. However, I am not using it for games! I am using this laptop for business-related work only.
It’s extremely responsive and fast since it’s using gaming computer components. My previous computer was an ancient piece of crap. It took 5 minutes to boot up and terrible at multi-tasking when I’m creating blog posts.
With that being said, everything in my home office can be used as a tax write off (within reason). For example, a small percentage of my electricity bill, cell phone bill, laptop, computer table, chairs, etc.
In Conclusion
Again, I am not a tax professional, so please contact your local tax preparer if you want to be sure at what you can use as a tax deduction in your state or country.
What I’m really trying to do here is to get you to start thinking about the money that you are potentially leaving on the table by not writing off your business expenses.
Are you currently writing off your online business expenses? If you are, please share your knowledge by leaving a comment below!
Kind Regards,
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