Tax Write-Offs Small Business Owners Commonly Overlook
The deductions most solopreneurs leave on the table
Home office expenses, supplies, and contractor payments are obvious—but you're probably missing $2,000 to $5,000 annually in legitimate deductions that don't require fancy accounting software or a CPA.
The IRS lets you deduct ordinary and necessary business expenses. The key word is ordinary. That means common in your industry, not rare or excessive. A one-person SaaS business and a freelance designer have different legitimate deductions, but both operate under the same rule: if it directly generates revenue or keeps your business running, it's deductible.
Vehicle and mileage expenses you're forgetting
You know about business mileage, but most solo founders undercount it. The 2024 standard mileage rate is 67.5 cents per mile for business use. Keep a simple log—date, destination, miles, purpose. One trip to meet a client, a supply run, a bank deposit for business purposes—it all adds up to hundreds or thousands annually.
Many overlook the second car advantage: if you own a second vehicle used primarily for business (not your commute), you can deduct actual expenses—insurance, maintenance, repairs, depreciation—instead of the standard rate. This usually beats mileage deductions for heavy users.
Software, subscriptions, and "miscellaneous" tools
Every SaaS tool, cloud service, communication platform, and design software is fully deductible. Slack, Figma, Notion, Zapier, email marketing platforms, project management tools—write them off. Many founders pay these monthly but never claim them because they feel small.
They add up. If you're spending $50 to $200 monthly on software (and most are), that's $600 to $2,400 per year. At a 25% effective tax rate, you're leaving $150 to $600 on the table.
Educational content costs are also fair game: online courses, books, conferences, and certifications directly related to your business are deductible. That $500 marketing course or $2,000 industry conference is a legitimate write-off.
Professional services and outsourced work
Contractor payments are obvious, but many solopreneurs forget about smaller professional services. Accountants, bookkeepers, designers, copywriters, developers—even a one-time project for $200 to $500 is deductible.
If you're outsourcing parts of your product or service delivery (like using fivedaylaunch to build a website for a client project, or having a custom tool built for your SaaS), those costs are 100% deductible as business expenses or cost of goods sold, depending on how the work is used.
Internet, phone, and equipment depreciation
Your internet bill isn't fully deductible, but the business-use percentage is. If you work from home and use your internet 60% for business, 40% personal, deduct 60% of the bill.
Equipment over $2,500 (laptops, monitors, cameras, microphones) can be depreciated over several years, or you can elect Section 179 expensing to deduct them fully in year one, up to $1,160,000 (2023 limit). Most solopreneurs don't know about this and miss significant deductions.
Office furniture, lighting, and ergonomic equipment also qualify—not just the desk itself, but the chair, monitor stand, and accessories.
Start a simple spreadsheet or ask your accountant to audit last year's spending. Three hours of work usually surfaces $1,500 to $3,000 in missed deductions. That's real money.