A Photographer’s Cheat Sheet to Tax Deductions: What You Can (and Can’t) Write Off

If you’re a photographer running your own business, wondering what in the funk you can actually write off on your taxes..

We got you, sweet baby angel. 

If you’ve got questions like, “Can I write off a camera as a business expense?” “How do I write off camera equipment on taxes without screwing it up?” “What even counts as a photography business deduction?” It’s gonna get answered. 

(And we’ve even sorted these photography business deductions by legit IRS categories, so if you’re Diy-ing your bookkeeping, you know how to categorize these write-offs. You’re welcome.)

Advertising (or Marketing) Tax Deductions

Any sh*t you’re doing to your promote your business, from IG ads to brand photoshoots, counts as a tax deduction. 

Promo events or memberships

• Membership to associations that help you promote your biz (like WIPA—Wedding Industry Professionals Association)
• Any local bridal expos or wedding shows where you pay to set up a booth

Paid ads (online and print)

• Google Ads
• Meta, Facebook, and Instagram ads
• Pinterest ads
• TikTok ads
• Local wedding magazine features (yes, print still counts)
• Paid spots in bigger publications (like Vogue)

Subscriptions and tools that support your marketing

Brand photoshoots

These are deductible too and include:

• Hiring a photographer
• Hair and makeup
• Renting a studio or location for your shoot
• Props or wardrobe you’re using specifically for that shoot

Utilities

Phone and internet are two of the most common photography business expenses because if you work from home/use your phone for work… you can write off a percentage of those bills. 

And you can calculate that percentage by: figuring out how much you use your phone and internet for work. For most photographers, it’s about 50% so it’s probs the same for you. 

That means you can write off 50% (or whatever your percentage is) of your internet bill and phone bill.

Equipment Rental

Since photography gear isn’t cheap, a soops common question we get from our dope photography bookkeeping clients is if they can write off their camera equipment… 

Short answer? Yes. (Even if you’re just renting it.) Whether it’s fancy lens for a bougie wedding or a backup camera body for double-header weekends, rental gear is 100% deductible.

Examples of rental equipment photographers can write off:

• Camera lens rentals
• Specialty gear 
• Lighting equipment
• Drone rentals
• Backup bodies

Space Rental Tax Deductions

This is the category where photographers miss out on saving bunches of benjamins, and we’re not about to let that happen to you.

Home office (even if it’s just your bedroom corner)

Any space that’s a dedicated space you use only for work counts as a home office. An office room (duh), a desk in your bedroom, or a corner desk in the dining room set up for you to take calls, edit photos, and do biz sh*t all count. 

To write off your home office space, you need to: figure out the percentage of space your office takes up in your house. Measure your home office space, figure out your home’s overall square footage, and divide your office footage by your overall house footage.

(Por ejamplo: if your house is 1000 square feet and your office is 150 square feet, 150 divided by 1000 = .15. That means your office space is 15 percent.) 

Once you know the percentage of space your office takes up, you can write off that percentage of:

(But you can fully write off office-only items like your desk, chair, shelves, or totes adorbs decorations.)

Studio and storage rentals

If you’re renting space to shoot in (whether it’s a legit studio or a dope Airbnb), it all counts as a full write-off for your photography business. We’re talking:

• Studio rentals or leases
• Co-working space fees
• Location rentals for shoots
• Storage units for all your props and backdrops

(Just don’t try claiming the family vacation rental where you “happened” to shoot one quick session. The IRS ain’t buying it, bb girl.)

Repairs and Maintenance (Sneaky Write-Offs You Might Be Missing)

Fun fact: if you’ve ever had to fix your camera, replace your roof, or recalibrate your lens… that sh*t might actually be deductible.

Home Office Fixes 

If part of your home is your office, you can write off that percentage of shared repairs (like plumbing, HVAC, pest control, etc.) based on how much space you use for work. If the repair is only for your office, you can usually deduct the full amount. 

Camera and Gear Repairs

If your camera, lens, or any of your other gear decides to have a meltdown, that repair bill is a fully deductible business expense. That means as a photographer, you can totally write off:

• Camera body repairs 
• Lens recalibration
• Cleaning and maintenance
• Fixing flashes, tripods, lighting gear, or that hard drive that makes a weird clicking sound

Software and Subscriptions

Most of the software photographers use to run their biz (like Adobe, CRMs, gallery delivery tools, and schedulers) is fully deductible.

Travel

Travel write-offs can help you save some serious cashola, especially if you shoot elopements, destination weddings, or just drive two towns over for a session. But the IRS (AKA IBS) is a picky a-hole when it comes to this category, so let’s break it down.

These are 100% deductible if you’re traveling *for work*:

• Flights
• Hotels and Airbnbs
• Rental cars
• Gas for rental cars
• Parking and tolls (if they’re during the trip)
• Transportation (Ubers, Lyfts, taxis, trains, metros, ferries, etc.)
• Location permits 
• Entrance fees (por ejamplo: national parks, state parks, museums, botanical gardens, etc.)

What’s *not* deductible: Broadway shows, jet skiing excursions, or anything that counts as entertainment. (Hissssssss. We funkin’ wish jet skiing was deductible too.)

Meals

Wondering if you can write off that overpriced latte from that cute café you worked from? Nope. (Rude, we know.)

Coffee you grab solo? Not deductible. Quick bite while running work errands? Still no. But don’t throw in the towel yet. There *are* situations where meals can be partially or even fully written off.

Meals You Can Write Off 50% of (your bookkeeping software should handle this automatically):

1. Meals while traveling for work 
2. Meals with clients 
3. Meals with colleagues

Meals You Can Write Off 100% of:

Team meals can be fully deducted if you’re paying for your contractors’ (like your second shooter’s or virtual assistant’) meals. Just make sure it’s tied to biz ops, keep the receipt, and jot down who was there and why.

Meals that Aren’t Deductible At All (F you, Uncle Sam):

• Solo meals in your hometown
• Coffee by yourself, even if it’s while “working from a café” (Yes, it’s dumb AF. No, we don’t make the rules)
• Meals with friends or colleagues that aren’t business-related 

Vehicle Expenses

If you drive for work, whether that’s heading to a shoot, meeting with clients, or running business errands, there is some stuff you can count as a biz expense.

Vehicle expenses you can write off:

• Parking fees (Only if it’s for a shoot, meeting, or legit business activity)
• Tolls (Same rule: it has to be for work travel)
• Mileage (This is the big one, bb.)

If you use your personal vehicle for business, tracking your mileage is the way to go. Mileage is meant to cover gas, wear and tear, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation.

In other words, you track mileage (the rate is 70 cents per mile) rather than all of those separately because the IRS was trying to make your life easier (for once). 

 P.S. Use the MileIQ app or The Dime Sheet to make it soops easy. 

What you *can’t* write off:

• Gas for your personal car (it’s already in the mileage rate, babe)
• New tires (even if they’re specifically for off-roading to adventure sessions)
• Oil changes (still covered by mileage)
• Regular car washes 
• The cost of the vehicle itself (sorry)

There’s one tiny exception: if your car gets dirty shooting a remote elopement, a wash might be deductible—use your judgment and save the receipt.

(And btw, if you’re thinking about wrapping your car with your logo and trying to deduct the whole vehicle… please don’t. That’s not how it works. BUT. You can write off the cost of the wrap itself as an advertising expense.)

Insurance

Business and gear insurance are both fully deductible—whether it’s liability insurance for your biz or a policy that covers your cameras and lenses. Just make sure you’re tracking the premiums.

Education

Courses, workshops, conferences, and mentorships that help you improve your work or run your biz better are deductible photography business expenses. We’re talking:

Education expenses get their own little spot on your Schedule C, and they’re 100% deductible as long as they relate to your business.

Client Gifts

The IRS says you can write off up to $25 per person per year for gifts.

That means if you’re gifting a couple, your total write-off limit is $50. BUT (and this is important) shipping and packaging costs don’t count toward that $25 limit, so that’s cool.

Here’s what counts as a gift: anything small and personal you send to clients—like candles, fancy treats, keepsakes, or bath goodies. If it’s not branded with your logo, it falls under this category. 

Want to go over the $25 client gift limit? Brand it, babe.

If you include your logo on the item, it becomes an advertising expense, not a gift.

Branded client gifts you can write off include:

• Welcome magazines 
• Branded gift boxes 
• Items with your studio name or logo 
• Custom-branded packaging 

(And you’d put that sh*t under “advertising.”)

Contractors

If you hire support for your business (even temporarily), they count as a contractor—and yes, those payments are fully deductible. 

Here are examples of who fits into this tax deduction category:

Bank and Payment Processor Fees

This one’s a lil misunderstood, but here’s the golden rule: report the full amount you charged your client and write off the amount your payment processor (like Stripe, HoneyBook, or PayPal) takes.

Por ejamplo: You charge $5,000 for a wedding, Stripe takes $145 in fees, you report $5,000 as income and write off the $145 as a payment processor fee.

Fees you can write off as a photographer:

• Stripe fees (those sneaky 2.9% + 30¢ charges)
• PayPal Business fees 
• Square processing fees 
• Monthly fees from your bank 
• Credit card fees related to your biz account (annual fees, foreign transaction fees, all that jazz)

Interest

If you’ve taken out any loans or used credit to support your business, you can write off the interest you’ve paid on that debt.

This includes:

• HoneyBook or Stripe loans
• Credit card interest (on cards used for business ONLY)
• Small business loans from your bank or an online lender
• Interest on lines of credit you’ve used to float expenses or make investments in your biz

Legal and CPA Services

Staying legally legit and getting expert support is also totally tax deductible. 

As photographer, you can write off:

• Fees paid to a lawyer for reviewing contracts or setting up your biz
• Filing fees for your LLC or business license
• Money spent on contract templates 
• Hiring a CPA to help with tax prep, S-Corp election paperwork, or other financial support

Depreciation

Okay, this one’s a lil technical, but hang with us. Depreciation is how the IRS lets you *slowly* write off big-ticket items over time instead of all at once.

And this might be a bad b*tch, get rich move for you if it makes sense to spread out a big expense (like a $3,000 camera or $2,500 computer) over a few years to lower your tax bill during lower-expense years.

Examples of things you might depreciate as a photographer:

• DSLR or mirrorless camera bodies
• Expensive lenses
• A good-ass laptop
• Studio furniture or setup equipment
• Anything you’ll use in your business for several years

This one is best done with a CPA who can help you decide whether to depreciate or just deduct the full amount.

Job Supplies

This category is the catch-all for all the everyday stuff you use in your biz. 

Fully deductible photography business expenses here might include:

Basically, if it’s a supply you bought to make your job easier or your client experience better, it goes here.

Need help writing sh*t off as a photographer?

We’ve got you. More specifically, we’ve got a stacked blog full of advice to help you do your bookkeeping and keep more of that hard-earned cashola. Dive into this tax prep checklist, check out our fave DIY resources, or book an Ask a Dime Call to get the answers you need. 

And if you’re more of a “please just do it for me” kind of photographer baddie, there’s always the option to hand it all over to us… (Unless we’re booked out, in which case, we’re so sorry.)

And if you dug this blog post, you might also like…

• This blog post on Small Business Deadlines for Tax Season 2025
• This blog post on Bookkeeping Basics for Small Business Owners (and Bad B*tches)
• This blog post on Hiring a Profesh Bookkeeper or DIY-ing Your Bookkeeping