Write-off planning for solo business owners
Self-Employed Tax Deductions Calculator — Find Every Write-Off You Qualify For
Quick answer: This self-employed deductions calculator helps you total the most common write-offs for freelancers, contractors, creators, and other solo business owners.
It focuses on deductions only, so it pairs naturally with our gig worker tax calculator when you want to estimate the full tax impact afterward.
Knowing what you earned is only half the self-employed tax story. The other half is knowing what you can legitimately deduct. This page is built to help you spot common write-offs fast, calculate their business-use share, and turn a messy deductions checklist into one clean total.
Self-Employed Tax Deductions Calculator
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Calculate your common self-employed write-offs in one place
Enter your business-use details below to estimate the home office share, mileage deduction, recurring utility deductions, and other common write-offs. Results update instantly.
You're missing these common deductions
Any category below showing up means you entered zero there. That does not guarantee you qualify, but it flags areas worth reviewing before you file.
- Enter your deductions above to see missed write-off prompts.
Planning estimate only. This tool focuses on common deduction categories and uses a simple 25% effective tax-savings estimate to show why write-offs matter. It is not tax advice.
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What can you deduct as a self-employed worker?
The easiest deductions to miss are usually the boring recurring ones: partial phone and internet use, professional subscriptions, software, education, and fees paid to outside experts. One large write-off gets attention, but five or six smaller categories often add up faster than people expect.
This page is intentionally different from our gig worker tax calculator. Here, the goal is not to estimate your full tax bill. It is to build the cleanest possible deductions checklist first so your net business income is more realistic before you estimate taxes.
How the home office deduction math works
1. Measure the office
Enter the square footage used regularly and exclusively for business. A guest room that doubles as a personal room usually fails this test.
2. Measure the whole home
Divide office square footage by total home square footage to estimate the business-use percentage of shared home space.
3. Apply the percentage
This page reports the business-use percentage so you can use it when reviewing rent, utilities, or similar shared costs with a tax professional or your own records.
4. Keep the records
Photos, floor plans, bills, and mileage logs matter. The best deduction is the one you can still support later if asked.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common write-offs include a qualified home office, business mileage, business-use phone and internet, health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, subscriptions, supplies, professional services, and work-related education.
One common starting point is office square footage divided by total home square footage. That gives the business-use percentage of the home for shared-cost planning.
Usually not. Only the business-use share is typically deductible, so this calculator uses your monthly bill and the business-use percentage you enter.
Yes. This page helps you find deductions. The next step is using your reduced net income inside a gig worker tax calculator to estimate quarterly taxes and total liability.
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