Tax deductions for photographers

June 14, 2011
5 minutes read

This article appears as part of Photographer’s Month.

What expenses can you legitimately deduct for your photography business? Keeping in mind that each country has different rules and exceptions, here’s a list of common tax deductions for photographers, taken from Chase Jarvis Photography.

If you gather up these expenses and categorize them properly in Wave (more on that below), you’ll be able to hand it all over to a qualified tax preparer and get maximum deductions with minimum hassle.

Gear Related

  • Camera and lighting equipment
  • Memory cards, hard drives and digital storage
  • Film (if you are old school) and processing fees
  • Repairs and rentals

Business Related

  • Website costs
  • Professional memberships, such as ASMP or ASPP
  • Reference materials – books, magazines
  • Contest entry fees
  • Continuing education courses
  • Copyright registration fees
  • Production Cost

Production Costs

  • Contractors, including stylists, assistants, models, location scouts, editors
  • Wardrobe and props
  • Permits, location fees or studio rental fees
  • Travel expenses

In addition, there are the regular small business deductions that you can claim:

  • Business insurance
  • Office supplies
  • Software costs
  • Tax preparation fees

Your Wave profile will already have accounts like “office supplies” as well as other standard photography-related accounting features.

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Option to accept online payments
Starting at
2.9% + $0.60
per credit card transaction
Starting at
2.9% + $0*
per credit card transaction
for first 10 transactions/mo
Unlimited invoices, estimates, bills
Add your logo and brand colors
Automate late payment reminders
with online payments
Wave mobile app
Unlimited bookkeeping records
Dashboard and reports
Auto-import transactions
Auto-merge transactions
Auto-categorize transactions
Add users
Live-person chat and email support
with any paid add-on
Digitally capture unlimited receipts
additional fee
Payroll
additional fee
additional fee
Hire a bookkeeper
additional fee
additional fee

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By Ash Christopher
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The information and tips shared on this blog are meant to be used as learning and personal development tools as you launch, run and grow your business. While a good place to start, these articles should not take the place of personalized advice from professionals. As our lawyers would say: “All content on Wave’s blog is intended for informational purposes only. It should not be considered legal or financial advice.” Additionally, Wave is the legal copyright holder of all materials on the blog, and others cannot re-use or publish it without our written consent.

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