The self-employed deduction checklist that counts
What can I deduct as a self-employed person?
On the example numbers here — $78,000 of revenue — the deductions come to $20,728, leaving $63,348 of net profit. Each line below shows its own amount and the reason it is that amount: the home office stops at your business income, health insurance disappears if an employer plan was available to you or your spouse, and equipment above $2,500 an item is a different calculation entirely.
United States · tax year 2026 · sole proprietor or single-member LLC, no employees
Most checklists give you thirty items and stop. The hard part is not what is on the list — it is how much, and why not more. Three of the biggest write-offs are capped by something no list asks you about.
Your year
Separate the costs with commas. Each item is tested on its own against the safe-harbor threshold — one expensive laptop is not two cheaper ones.
Wages already taxed for social security use up part of the annual wage base, so the social security part of your self-employment tax stops sooner. Leave it at zero if self-employment is your only income.
Available, not joined. Being eligible for a plan is what removes the deduction, even if you turned it down.
What you can actually deduct
5,500 business miles at two rates: $0.725 a mile before 1 July and $0.76 from 1 July. One rate for the whole of 2026 would understate the second half of the year.
120 sq ft at $5 per square foot.
2 item(s) at or under $2,500 each, deducted outright. 1 item(s) cost more and are NOT included: above the threshold it becomes depreciation or a section 179 election, which this tool does not compute.
Half of $1,450. The temporary full deduction for restaurant meals expired after 2022; 2026 is back to half. Entertainment is not deductible at all.
60% of $1,320. Allowed, but the share is the part that gets challenged: it needs a record showing how you arrived at it, not a round number chosen afterwards.
Not optional and not something you elect: Schedule SE line 13 comes off your income automatically. It is on this list because people ask whether they can deduct self-employment tax, and the answer is half of it.
Premiums of $7,800, inside the limit of $58,872.
Nothing entered. This is usually the largest deduction available to a profitable sole proprietor, and it is the one most often left at zero.
Note on the home-office limit: you told us you are claiming actual vehicle costs, so this tool did not work out a vehicle deduction — and it could not subtract one from the gross income limit either. Your real vehicle costs are still a Schedule C expense, so the limit used above is higher than your true one and the home-office amount may be too generous.
Note on the home-office limit: every item you entered costs more than the de minimis threshold, so this tool did not work out an equipment deduction — and it could not subtract one from the gross income limit either. Depreciation or a section 179 election on those items is still a Schedule C expense, so the limit used above is higher than your true one and the home-office amount may be too generous.
- Depreciation and section 179 for anything above the safe-harbor threshold.
- Actual vehicle costs — only the standard mileage rate.
- The regular (non-simplified) home office method, which often gives more but needs actual household expenses and depreciation.
- State and local tax.
- Employees, payroll tax, and retirement plans that cover anyone other than you.
Every limit on this page carries its source in the tool's own reference file: the mileage rates and the simplified home-office rule come from the same verified models behind our paid spreadsheets, and the safe-harbor threshold from Treasury Regulation 1.263(a)-1(f).
This is a calculator, not tax advice. It shows federal deductions for a one-person business and says plainly where it stops.
Want this kept for you all year, not once in April?
The bookkeeping spreadsheet tracks income, expenses, mileage, invoices and inventory as you go, and maps every category to the right Schedule C line — so the checklist above is already filled in when you need it.
Small Business Bookkeeping Spreadsheet — $14.99Questions people actually ask
Why does my home office deduction come out smaller than $5 per square foot?
Because the simplified method cannot create or increase a loss. It is limited to the gross income of the business after your other expenses, and — this is the part that costs people money — the unused part does NOT carry forward to next year under the simplified method. It is gone. The regular method does carry forward, which is the main reason to use it in a thin year.
Can I deduct my health insurance if my spouse has a plan at work?
No, not for any month that plan was available to you — even if you declined it and paid for your own cover instead. Eligibility is the test, not enrollment. It is the most common reason this deduction is disallowed, and almost no checklist asks the question.
I bought a laptop. Can I just deduct it?
If it cost $2,500 or less, yes — the de minimis safe harbor lets you write it off outright. Above that it becomes depreciation or a section 179 election, which is a different calculation and not one this tool makes. The election also has to cover every qualifying item you bought that year, not the ones you choose.
Is self-employment tax deductible?
Half of it, and it is automatic. Schedule SE line 13 comes off your income whether or not you think about it — you do not elect it and you cannot lose it. The other half is not deductible.
Do I use one mileage rate for the whole year?
Not in 2026. The rate changed on 1 July, so miles before that date and miles from that date are multiplied by different amounts and added. A sheet that uses a single rate for the year understates the second half — which is why this page asks for the two halves separately.
