Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The 2025 chart lists 561500 for travel arrangement and reservation services, the row closest to a travel agent’s work. The code goes on line B. A neighbor such as 561900 may read closer for tours or event organizing, depending on the principal source of your receipts.
The travel row on the chart
The chart has a row built around arranging and booking travel.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 561500 | Travel arrangement & reservation services |
The chart lists 561500 as “Travel arrangement & reservation services”. The wording names arrangement and reservation, which is the heart of booking trips for others.
How the form asks for it
Line A asks for a description of the work: “Describe the business or professional activity that provided your principal source of income reported on line 1.” Line B asks for the code: “Enter on line B the six-digit code from the Principal Business or Professional Activity Codes chart” The code goes in the box on line B, beside the description.
An example of the kind of description, not IRS wording: a line A phrase such as planning and booking vacation travel for individuals and families. Line A can name your niche; line B holds the code only.
Rows nearby that might read closer
Travel work can lean toward events, lodging or general support. These rows sit near the travel row.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 561500 | Travel arrangement & reservation services |
| 561900 | Other support services (including packaging & labeling services, & convention & trade show organizers) |
| 721100 | Traveler accommodation (including hotels, motels, & bed & breakfast inns) |
| 561110 | Office administrative services |
| 541990 | All other professional, scientific, & technical services |
An agent who mainly organizes conventions or group events may read “Other support services (including packaging & labeling services, & convention & trade show organizers)” as nearer. Someone who runs a bed and breakfast would look at “Traveler accommodation (including hotels, motels, & bed & breakfast inns)”. Administrative support for a travel firm may fit “Office administrative services”, and work that fits no named service may be compared with “All other professional, scientific, & technical services”.
The chart’s rule has two steps: “Select the category that best describes your primary business activity”, and then “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”.
Planning trips as one stream among several
An agent may book trips, plan events and write about travel in the same year. The chart does not ask for a blend; it asks which activity brings the principal source of receipts. No row is headed travel agent, so the reader compares the activity named in each row.
If the travel work is one business among several, the instructions say: “If you owned more than one business, complete a separate Schedule C for each business.”
Where to go next
The code sits on line B next to the line A description on Schedule C (Form 1040). Sales and commissions you receive are reported starting at Schedule C line 1, gross receipts or sales, and travel costs have their own page on Schedule C lines 24a and 24b. The full chart is on the full IRS list of Schedule C business codes.
Edition and chart year
This page reads the 2025 Schedule C (Form 1040) and its 2025 instructions, 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 chart that comes with that year’s instructions, because a different year’s chart can list different codes or reword them.
Common mistakes
- Looking for a row called travel agent. The wording is “Travel arrangement & reservation services”, which names the service rather than the job title.
- Choosing a lodging row for booking work. The lodging row reads “Traveler accommodation (including hotels, motels, & bed & breakfast inns)” and describes running a place to stay.
- Picking by the biggest single sale. The rule reads “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts” which looks to the principal source of receipts.
Related: Schedule C (Form 1040), Schedule C business codes: the full IRS list, Schedule C line 1, gross receipts or sales, and Schedule C lines 24a and 24b.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
- Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 30, 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.