Most small business owners know they can deduct rent, payroll, and the big stuff. The deductions that get left on the table are the smaller, recurring ones that nobody thinks to track. Over twelve months they can easily add up to a few thousand dollars in missed write-offs.

The business portion of your cell phone and internet bill is deductible. If you use your phone 60% for business, 60% of the bill is a deduction. Same with your home internet if you work from home or use it for anything business-related. Most owners just never bother to calculate the split.

Mileage is another big one, and not just trips to client sites. Driving to the bank to make a deposit, picking up supplies, going to the post office, meeting your accountant. All of those are deductible business miles. The standard mileage rate for 2024 is 67 cents per mile. Ten trips to the bank at 15 miles round trip is $100 in deductions just from that one errand. People forget to log these shorter trips and lose hundreds over the year.

Bank fees and credit card processing fees are fully deductible. Monthly account fees, wire transfer charges, merchant processing fees from Square or Stripe or your POS system. Processing fees alone can run 2-3% of revenue for businesses that take a lot of card payments. That is real money and it is all deductible.

If you work from home, the home office deduction is available as long as the space is used exclusively for business. The simplified method gives you $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet. That is up to $1,500 without having to calculate your actual housing costs.

Professional development is often overlooked. Courses, certifications, conferences, books, coaching programs, and industry memberships are all deductible when they relate to your business. That $2,000 conference registration and the travel to get there both count.

Health insurance premiums are deductible for self-employed individuals. If you are paying for your own health, dental, or vision coverage and you are not eligible for a plan through a spouse’s employer, that premium comes off your taxable income. This is not an itemized deduction either. It reduces your adjusted gross income directly.

Software subscriptions add up quickly and they are all deductible. Your accounting software, project management tools, email marketing platform, scheduling app, cloud storage. Individually they seem small but together they can easily run $200 to $500 a month.

Retirement contributions to a SEP IRA or Solo 401(k) are deductible and reduce your tax bill significantly. A SEP IRA lets you contribute up to 25% of net self-employment income. Many business owners do not realize how much they can shelter through retirement accounts.

Business gifts up to $25 per recipient per year are deductible. Holiday gifts for clients, thank-you gifts for referral partners. It is a small deduction but one that almost nobody tracks.

The pattern behind all of these is the same. The expense is legitimate and deductible but the owner either did not know it counted or did not bother to record it. Working with a bookkeeper in Pearland who reviews your expenses regularly catches these things throughout the year instead of scrambling at tax time. And when it is time to file, having clean books means your business tax return captures every deduction you are entitled to instead of just the ones you remembered.