Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: Line 8 is where advertising expenses go, and line 9 is for car and truck expenses. For line 9 you choose between your actual vehicle costs and the standard mileage rate, with limits on when each is allowed. If you use the standard mileage rate you multiply business miles by the rate and add parking fees and tolls. Vehicle details are reported in Part IV or on Form 4562.
Picking the Schedule C business code for your work (2025 chart): Schedule C code for handymen, Schedule C code for personal trainers and Schedule C code for construction trades.
Picking the Schedule C business code for your work (2025 chart): Schedule C code for photographers, Schedule C code for house cleaners and Schedule C code for landscapers.
Related reading on this site: IRS Publication 463.
Sales of business property (Form 4797), passive activity losses (Form 8582) and depreciation (Form 4562) for 2025, read line by line: Form 4797 lines 33 to 35 and Form 4562 Part V.
Line 8: advertising
The form lists “Advertising” as line 8, the first line of Part II. The instructions have no separate paragraph for line 8, so the caption and the general Part II rules are what apply. One of those rules says that when you produced property or bought it for resale, “you must generally capitalize certain expenses in inventory or other property.” It continues: “Reduce the amounts on lines 8 through 27a and Part V by amounts capitalized.” The instructions also name advertising as an ordinary Part II expense when talking about a home used for business: “Use Part II of Schedule C to deduct business expenses that are unrelated to the qualified business use of the home (for example, expenses for advertising, wages, or supplies, or depreciation of equipment or furniture).”
Part II has its own heading on the form: “Part II Expenses. Enter expenses for business use of your home only on line 30.” Home office costs are covered on the home office deduction page.
Line 9: actual expenses or standard mileage rate
The instructions open with the choice: you can “deduct the actual expenses of operating your car or truck or take the standard mileage rate.” “This is true even if you used your vehicle for hire (such as a taxicab).” Two limits follow. You “must use actual expenses if you used five or more vehicles simultaneously in your business (such as in fleet operations).” And you “can’t use actual expenses for a leased vehicle if you previously used the standard mileage rate for that vehicle.”
The standard mileage rate has its own entry conditions. The instructions say you can take it for 2025 “only if you:” “Owned the vehicle and used the standard mileage rate for the first year you placed the vehicle in service, or” “Leased the vehicle and are using the standard mileage rate for the entire lease period.”
Where the number on line 9 comes from
For the standard mileage rate, the instructions say in their summary of changes: “For 2025, the standard mileage rate for the cost of operating your car for business use is 70 cents per mile.” The line 9 steps are: “Multiply the number of business miles driven by 0.70.” “Add to this amount your parking fees and tolls;” and “Enter the total on line 9.” “Do not deduct depreciation, rent or lease payments, or your actual operating expenses.”
Here is a labelled illustration of the form’s own arithmetic, not an IRS example. Suppose 1,000 business miles were driven. At 0.70 per mile the amount is computed as $700. If parking fees and tolls came to $50, the amount for line 9 would be computed as $750.
If you deduct actual expenses, the instructions say: “Include on line 9 the business portion of expenses for gasoline, oil, repairs, insurance, license plates, etc.” Then “Show depreciation on line 13 and rent or lease payments on line 20a.” Depreciation is explained on the Schedule C lines 12 and 13 page, and rent is on the Schedule C lines 20 to 22 page.
Vehicle information and a related rule
Claiming car expenses carries a reporting duty: “If you claim any car and truck expenses, you must provide certain information on the use of your vehicle by completing one of the following.” One path is Schedule C Part IV: “Complete Schedule C, Part IV, if (a) you are claiming the standard mileage rate, you lease your vehicle, or your vehicle is fully depreciated; and (b) you are not required to file Form 4562 for any other reason.” The other is “Complete Form 4562, Part V, if you are claiming depreciation on your vehicle or you are required to file Form 4562 for any other reason”. The Part IV questions are covered on the Schedule C Part IV page and the form is explained on the Form 4562 page.
One more rule appears under line 9: “If you use your vehicle for both business and personal purposes and you claimed a deduction in 2025 on Schedule 1-A (Form 1040) for the vehicle loan interest allocable to your personal use, then you can’t claim a deduction for that same interest on Schedule C.”
Where it goes next
Lines 8 and 9 are part of the total on line 28, whose caption is “Total expenses before expenses for business use of home. Add lines 8 through 27b”. That total is explained on the Schedule C lines 27a to 29 page. The next expense lines are on the Schedule C lines 10 and 11 page.
This line is one step in a chain that ends at line 31. For a profit, the schedule says “If a profit, enter on both Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 3, and on Schedule SE, line 2.” Schedule SE is the form that figures self-employment tax; it is introduced on the Schedule SE (Form 1040) page. The last step is covered on the Schedule C lines 31 and 32 page, and the return the schedule attaches to is explained on the Form 1040 page.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Schedule C (Form 1040) and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-18 (byte-identical to the archived copies). They are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The schedule says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-SS, 1040-NR, or 1041”. Check the tax year printed on the schedule you are filling in and use the line numbers on that year’s schedule, because a different year’s schedule can number or word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Claiming both mileage and depreciation. For the standard mileage rate the instructions say “Do not deduct depreciation, rent or lease payments, or your actual operating expenses.”
- Switching to actual expenses on a leased vehicle after using mileage. The instructions say you “can’t use actual expenses for a leased vehicle if you previously used the standard mileage rate for that vehicle.”
- Skipping the vehicle information. The instructions say “you must provide certain information on the use of your vehicle”.
Related: Schedule C (Form 1040), home office deduction, Form 4562, and self-employment tax.
Sources
- Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sc.pdf
- Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 18, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.