With tax season upon us, it’s important to understand how you can take advantage of tax write-offs to save money in your event planning business. As an experienced event and wedding planner, I want to share five business expenses that you may not be aware of, but that you can claim as tax write-offs. By knowing what expenses qualify, you can maximize your deductions and reduce your tax bill.
1. Professional Development Events
If you’ve attended a conference or enrolled in a course to improve your event planning skills, you may be eligible to claim these expenses as tax write-offs. Attending a conference or taking a course can be a great way to gain new insights, network with other professionals in your field, and learn about the latest industry trends. As long as these expenses are related to your business and contribute to your professional development, you can claim them as tax write-offs.
When it comes to attending a conference, you can write off a variety of expenses such as registration fees, travel expenses, accommodation, and meals. However, it’s important to keep detailed records of all expenses and receipts to ensure that you have the necessary documentation to support your deductions.
Similarly, if you’ve enrolled in an online or in-person course to improve your event planning skills or knowledge, you may be able to claim the tuition fees, textbooks, and other related expenses as tax write-offs. Again, it’s important to ensure that the course is related to your business and that you have the necessary documentation to support your claim.
2. Books
If you purchased books to improve your skills or knowledge, you may be eligible to claim these expenses as tax write-offs. Whether you’ve invested in books about event planning techniques, marketing strategies, or business management, the cost of these books can be considered a legitimate business expense.
When it comes to claiming book purchases as tax write-offs, it’s important to ensure that the books are related to your business or industry. For example, if you’re an event planner, you can claim the cost of books that specifically relate to event planning, such as books on design, decor, or vendor management.
It’s worth noting that you can also claim the cost of e-books or digital books as tax write-offs. This means that if you’ve purchased event planning e-books or digital textbooks, you can still claim these expenses as long as you have proof of purchase and can demonstrate that the books are related to your business.
3. Phone and Internet Expenses
You might already know this one as it’s fairly common for most businesses, but if you use your cell phone or internet for your business then this is also a possible tax write-off. What percentage of the expense you’ll be able to claim will vary according to your location, but this is where finding a highly recommended Accountant will be helpful.
4. Online Marketing Costs
If you’re advertising online and running ads, these are eligible as a tax write-off. Even if you hired an internet marketer or a digital marketer like myself, you can actually write-off that expense.
For example: If you hired me to help you to set up a Facebook Ad and the Facebook ad cost you $1,000, then you can write off that $1,000 ad cost, plus the cost of getting it set up.
Facebook also does an amazing job of tracking your ad spend expenses so when you go in at any time, it’s often itemized and you can just download the report to see what you’ve spent in any given year.
5. Online Assets
The final item that most planners do not realize they can write-off is their website expenses. If you purchased a website domain name, and are currently paying to host your site, these are expenses you can include as part of your tax write-offs. Even items such as plugins (if you’re on wordpress), can also be written off.
Conclusion: Tax Write-Offs
These are just five of the common expenses that I know not every event planner will know outside of their regular event costs and the cost of running their business.
I’d also like to leave you with one final tip and that’s to seek a professional. That’s right, I’m talking about an Accountant. Your accountant is probably going to be your best friend during tax season, ensure that you’re working with someone to help review everything that you are submitting and keep your business on the right track.
