1 - Start Up Expenses. For the first year that you are in business, you can deduct $5,000 of organizational costs and $5,000 in start up costs. This is actually a great tax write off, if you are a new business owner!
2- Travel Costs. Assuming that you have kept a detailed log of your travel expenses, you can write off a ton of travel costs. Some of the expenses that can be deducted are: meals, lodging, air fare, drycleaning, transportation, and phone calls!!
3 - Automotive Expenses. This is a very important one, and requires very careful record keeping. You can write off a new (or newly purchased) vehicle that is used for business, miles, polls and parking costs. You have to be really careful with this one and make sure to keep good records and logs.
4 - Equipment. There are a ton of necessities that you can deduct from your taxes. Equipment includes computers, furniture, software, office supplies, etc. This is actually a pretty broad category that can include a ton of stuff!
5 - Insurance. If you offer insurance for your employees, you can get a write off for that. This is a fairly new tax credit that not everyone is claiming, so be sure to ask about it or research it to learn more.
6 - Charitable Donations. Anything you donate during the year can be a write off. Make sure to have the documentation to back this up. The best idea is to get a letter from the organization that you donated to, verifying your contribution.
7 - Education. Any education pertaining to your profession can be deducted. This includes classes for your employees, training manuals, videos, books,etc.
8 - Veteran Hires. This is a new tax credit, and a good one! Be sure to research the available tax credits if you have a veteran employee on your staff!
9 - Entertainment. This one is actually pretty lenient. You can deduct half the cost of any entertainment where business was discussed, or any entertainment that happened directly before or after a business event.
10 - Software. You can deduct 100% of the cost of any software purchases the year in which it is purchased, as long as it was used the same year.
