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List of Schedule C Expenses and their Category

List of Expenses and their Category

  1. Advertising
  2. Assets
  3. Car and truck
  4. Commissions and fees
  5. Contract labor
  6. Home office expenses
  7. Insurance
  8. Interest paid
  9. Legal fees and professional services
  10. Meals
  11. Office expenses
  12. Other business expenses
  13. Rent and lease
  14. Repairs and maintenance
  15. Supplies
  16. Taxes and licenses
  17. Travel expenses
  18. Utilities
1 ADVERTISING Use this category to categorize expenses related to promoting and selling your products or services.

  • Listing fees
  • Web advertising, banner ads, and pay-per-click fees
  • Promotional purchases and giveaways (T-shirts, caps, bags, pens)
  • Fees paid to advertising and public relations agencies
  • Business logo design
  • Marketing emails and direct mail campaigns
  • Promotions and promotional events
  • Newspaper and magazine advertising
  • TV advertising
  • Professional performance videos and CDs
  • Package design fees
  • Catalogs
  • Billboards, signs, and display racks
  • Phone book advertising
  • Sponsorships
  • Banners, posters, bumper stickers, and door-hangers
  • Yellow Pages listings
2 ASSETS Assets are tangible items you use to run your business and generate income.

Important: If the purchase price of an asset is more than $2,500, you have to claim it as an asset. That also means you need to track its depreciation.

  • Apps/software/web services (more than $200)
  • Computers (more than $200)
  • Copiers (more than $200)
  • Furniture (more than $200)
  • Other tools and equipment (more than $200)
  • Phones (more than $200)
  • Photo and video equipment (more than $200)
3 CAR & TRUCK
  • Vehicle insurance
  • Vehicle loan and loan interest
  • Vehicle repairs
  • Gas and fuel
  • Parking and tolls
  • Vehicle registration
  • Vehicle lease
  • Wash and road services
4 COMMISSIONS &FEES Use this category to categorize commissions and fees you pay outside of regular 1099-MISC payments.

  • Referral/broker/selling fees
  • Finder’s fees
  • Sales commissions
  • Fees for legal referrals
  • Fees for drop shippers
  • Fees for online referrals
  • Shared commissions (common in real estate)
  • Commissions paid to managers and agents who are not employees

Important: If you pay an independent contractor $600 or more for commissions for a project and don’t withhold any type of taxes, you’re required to send the contractor and the IRS a 1099-MISC.
5 CONTRACT LABOR
  • Fees paid to subcontractors and independent contractors
  • Fees paid for additional project support
  • Fees paid for creative resources
  • Fees paid for outside research and data collection
6 HOME OFFICE EXPENSES Divide the area of your home office by the total area of your home to arrive at the fraction of your home that is occupied by your home office, referred to as the “business percentage” on Form 8829.
7 INSURANCE
  • Business insurance
  • Property insurance
  • General liability insurance
  • Workers’ compensation insurance
  • Fire, theft, and flood insurance (for an offsite office or storage space)
  • Renter’s insurance (for an offsite office or storage space)
  • Errors and omissions insurance
  • Malpractice insurance
  • Business interruption insurance
8 INTEREST PAID Use this category to categorize business credit card interest, loan interest (not the loan itself), and other business-related interest.

  • Other interest
  • Business loan interest
  • Mortgage interest
  • Credit card interest
9 LEGAL FEES & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
  • Professional association membership fees
  • Organization dues (including state bar dues)
  • Legal fees for business matters
  • Accountant fees
  • Short-term consulting fees
  • One-time management consultation fees
  • One-time marketing consultation fees
  • One-time engineering consultation fees
  • One-time technical consultation fees
  • Fees paid for Web site analysis
  • Other outside consulting fees for short-term advice on specific deals
  • One-time logo and web design fees
  • Fees paid to talent agents or business and personal managers who aren’t paid as employees
10 MEALS Tip: Meals while traveling away from home, either by yourself or with clients, don’t fall into this category. Use the Meals and entertainment category instead. You’re not required to keep receipts for purchases less than $75. However, it’s a good idea to keep good records of all meals, regardless of cost. You should be able to tell the IRS the business purpose, date, and total cost of each trip.
11 OFFICE EXPENSES
  • Postage
  • Paper
  • Shipping fees
  • Stamps, labels, envelopes, and mailers
  • Shipping materials
  • Storage and filing boxes
  • Memo and message pads, Post-it notepads
  • Whiteboards and markers
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Calendars and planners
  • Staples, staplers, paper clips, and scissors
  • Tape, tape dispensers, and rulers
  • Calculators
  • Business membership fees to superstores like Costco and Sam’s club
  • Pickup and delivery services
  • Bottled water delivery
  • Shredding services
  • Backup data and archiving services
  • Office cleaning
  • Handicap access expenses
  • Office decorating expenses
  • Separate cable line for your office
  • Separate security system for your office
12 OTHER BUSINESS EXPENSES If you can’t find another category for an expense, use the other business expenses category.

  • Memberships/subscriptions
  • Printing
  • Uniforms
  • Apps/software/web services
  • Computers
  • Copiers
  • Furniture
  • Other tools and equipment
  • Phone
  • Photo/video equipment
  • Other business expenses
13 RENT AND LEASE
  • Equipment rent and lease
  • Building rent and lease
  • Portable storage units
  • Small machinery and appliance rentals for business
  • Warehouse space
  • Showroom space
  • Office buildings
  • Retail shops
  • Costs for repairs and maintenance, but for office or property that’s not your home. This doesn’t include renovations or improvements.
  • Minor roofing, HVAC upgrades for a business space
  • Computer repair and upgrade visits from technical specialists
  • Floor refinishing for a business space
  • Carpet and furniture cleaning in a business space
  • Janitorial services for a business space
  • Paint, spackle, and electrical work
14 REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE Use this category to categorize expenses related to general office repairs and upkeep. This covers necessary maintenance and upkeep.

Tip: As a rule-of-thumb, home office repairs are deductible as long as they are reasonable. Enhancements, replacements, or upgrades that add value to your property are considered assets.

  • Plumbing repairs
  • Routine servicing for heating or air conditioning
  • Painting
  • Cleaning gutters
  • Light fixture repairs
15 SUPPLIES Use this category to categorize items you buy and then sell or use to make the products you sell. This includes raw materials, packaging, and shipping.

  • Art supplies
  • Fabric and other craft materials
  • Wood and metal supplies
  • Food and beverages you sell as packaged goods, or you use as ingredients
  • Fitness equipment you sell to clients
  • Learning materials (books, notebooks, flashcards, and so on) you sell to students
  • Organization materials or systems that you sell to clients
  • Home furnishings you restore or upcycle and re-sell
  • Specialized paper for photos or print-making
16 TAXES AND LICENSES
  • Business licenses
  • Property tax
  • Estimated taxes
  • Federal tax
  • Sales tax
  • State tax
  • Other taxes
  • Doing business as (DBA) or Fictitious Business Name one-time filing fee
  • Incorporation fees
  • Business name search fees
  • Copyright application and registration
  • Trademarks and logo fees
  • Domain name search fees
  • Software licensing and renewal fees
  • Real estate taxes for an office you own (not your home office)
  • Any other taxes imposed by your city, state, or county in order for you to conduct business
  • Fees to acquire, draft, or cancel a lease
17 TRAVEL EXPENSES
  • Air, train, or bus fare for business travel
  • Hotel costs for business travel (except not meals)
  • Rental car expenses
  • Taxi, shuttle fares and transportation tips while out of town on business
  • Gas, oil, parking fees, and tolls while out of town
  • Computer rental costs when away on business
  • Internet access fees when away on business
  • Phone calls when away on business
  • Tips while traveling (except for meal tips, which are only 50% deductible)
  • Dry cleaning if you have to stay overnight for business
  • Cost of shipping baggage, supplies, products, equipment necessary for business
  • Cost of storing baggage and equipment during a business trip
  • Late check-out charges, if you are required to stay overtime for

business
18 UTILITIES Use this category to categorize utility payments at an office or business property. If you use your home as your office, follow these steps to categorize your home office expenses.

  • Gas and electricity
  • Water
  • Trash collection
  • Monthly pest control service
  • Security alarm monitoring service
  • Sewer and septic service