When working as a handyman or other type of construction, remodeling or home repair worker, you can often take advantage of a wide variety tax write-offs along the way. With these handyman tax deductions, you can significantly lower your taxable income and also your tax liability as a result. Keeping track of your expenses is essential to get the most out of your tax deductions.
Supplies and Equipment
When you work as a handyman, you will most likely spend a large portion of your money on supplies and equipment. You must have several different types of tools and equipment before you can do your work. When you purchase equipment for your business, you can deduct it from your taxable income for the year. Any business-related supplies are also deductible when you file your taxes.
You can also deduct services, such as marketing you do with coupons, flyers, a website or digital advertising. Be sure to keep your receipts for these handyman expenses so that you can prove your purchases if you get audited by the Internal Revenue Service.
Read More: What Happens if You Don't File Taxes?
Business-Related Travel Expenses
When you work as a handyman, you may have to travel all over your area to get to job sites. This inevitably costs you money in many different ways. When it comes to filing your taxes, you can also get a break for these costs.
One way that you can take a deduction is if you keep track of the miles that you drive for business purposes. You can deduct a certain amount of money for each mile that you drive. For 2021, that's 56 cents per mile. The rate is 58.5 cents per mile in 2022.
Once you take the mileage rate, you can't write off gas, oil, maintenance, loan or lease costs or other vehicle-related expenses. If you do not want to keep track of miles, you can deduct maintenance expenses for your vehicle.
Read More: Schedule A: Instructions on How to Itemize Deductions
Different Insurance Costs
When you work as a handyman, you should buy your own insurance. This can include property, general liability and health insurance.
When you pay for your health insurance out of your own pocket, you can get a tax deduction for this as well. As long as you are not eligible for health insurance on a plan from your spouse's job, you can deduct the entire amount of premiums that you pay for your insurance. You can deduct for both you and your family's insurance premiums.
Read More: E-Filing: How to File Your Taxes Electronically, IRS Free File & More
Home Office Costs
If you run your business out of your home, which many handymen do, you can take a deduction for a home office. When you have a home office, it allows you to deduct a portion of all of the expenses that you have for your home. For example, you can deduct a portion of your mortgage payment, your utility payments and your homeowners insurance payment.
The size of the deduction depends on how big your home office is in relation to the rest of your house. If you split a room between your office and a nursery, for example, you can only deduct the square footage used for your office. You can also deduct the equipment associated with your office, such as your desk and chair, computer and printer and supplies.