I am a professional organizer. I have a home office where I do all of my billing, networking, paperwork, writing, etc. I am wondering what I can "write off" as a business expense. Some things are obvious (I track my miles driving to and from clients). But what about the food I bring each work day to eat for lunch? When I grocery shop, I pick up items to eat when I work but it's all on one receipt. I'm curious to know what other items are a tax deduction. Clothes I wear only for work? Equipment I buy for work?
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Hello laurensaltman
According to the IRS, a business expense is considered deductible, if it is "ordinary and neccessary". Ordinary meaning that the expense is one that is common and accepted in your industry. Neccessary meaning that the expense helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. In short, any business-related meals, clothing for business-purposes, equipment you use for your business, as long as it meets the ordinary and neccessary criteria and you are able to justify the reason for these expenses, then they are deductible for business purposes.
Please refer to this link
Hi, Laurensaltman,
In general to qualify as a business expense, an item must be both ordinary and necessary. This article does a great job of explaining those things.
As to the specific things you mentioned, I also wanted to address those directly.
Hope this helps.
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Regards,
Karen
TurboTax Expert
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