Updated November 8, 2026. Quick answer: Most deductions for a one-person business are the same across professions, because they come from Schedule C and Publication 334. What differs is which of them carry the weight, which have a profession-specific rule behind them, and where the records are thin. Each guide below takes one profession and walks its deductions to the Schedule C line, with the IRS passage behind the rule that matters most for that work. None is advice about a particular return.
What every profession starts from
This page reads the IRS documents linked under Sources, as retrieved on November 8, 2026. The IRS publications and instructions cited here are the 2025 editions, written for returns filed for 2025; check the current edition before relying on a figure.
Every deduction below has to pass one test first. Publication 334 puts it this way: “To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary.” “An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your field of business.” “A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your business.” And where a cost is mixed: “If you have an expense that is partly for business and partly personal, separate the personal part from the business part.”
The guides
Pick the work you do. Each guide covers the Schedule C lines it uses most, the one or two rules specific to that work, and the big items that sit outside Schedule C (home office, vehicle, health insurance, a retirement plan for yourself, QBI).
| Profession | What is different | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Independent consultants | Client travel, the tax home and the one-year line, meals and entertainment | Independent consultants |
| Freelance writers | Creative-property exception to capitalization, books and supplies, home office | Freelance writers |
| Graphic designers | Equipment versus supplies, software, home office as principal place of business | Graphic designers |
| Photographers | Listed-property rules for camera equipment, creative-property exception, sales tax on prints | Photographers |
| Real estate agents | Licenses and dues, client gifts, driving to showings, home office when you work from the field | Real estate agents |
| Insurance agents (1099) | Statutory employee or self-employed, licenses, two Schedules C | Insurance agents |
| Therapists in private practice | Office rent versus home office, malpractice insurance, health insurance | Therapists in private practice |
| Locum tenens physicians | Tax home, temporary assignments, travel and lodging, malpractice coverage | Locum tenens physicians |
Where each cost lands on Schedule C
The Schedule C instructions give each kind of cost a line. This is the short map the guides use; the line pages linked in the last column explain each in full.
| Cost | Schedule C line | What to keep | Where it is explained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract help you hire | Line 11 | Invoices and the payee’s Form W-9 | Schedule C lines 10 and 11 |
| Business insurance | Line 15 | Policy declarations and payment record | Schedule C lines 14 and 15 |
| Accountant and attorney fees | Line 17 | Invoices, with the business part identified | Schedule C lines 17 to 19 |
| Office supplies and postage | Line 18 | Receipts | Schedule C lines 17 to 19 |
| Rent for an office or space | Line 20b | Lease and payment record | Schedule C lines 20 to 22 |
| Supplies and materials | Line 22 | Receipts | Schedule C lines 20 to 22 |
| Licenses and regulatory fees | Line 23 | Renewal notices and payment record | Schedule C line 23 |
| Travel away from home | Line 24a | Receipts and the five trip elements | Schedule C lines 24a and 24b |
| Meals | Line 24b | Receipts with who, why and where noted | Schedule C lines 24a and 24b |
| Car and truck | Line 9 | Mileage log, plus receipts if you use actual costs | Schedule C lines 8 and 9 |
Sources: the Schedule C instructions assign the lines. For example, “Include on this line your expenses for office supplies and postage.” and “Deduct premiums paid for business insurance on line 15.”
Limits that apply to every profession
A few dollar and percentage limits come up in every guide. This page’s table of them is built only from the passages quoted.
| Item | What the IRS says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Meals | “In most cases, you can deduct only 50% of your meal expenses.” | Publication 334, travel and meals |
| Business gifts | “You can deduct no more than $25 for business gifts you give directly or indirectly to each person during your tax year.” | Publication 463, chapter 3 |
| Small equipment purchases | “If you don’t have an applicable financial statement, you may use the de minimis safe harbor to deduct amounts paid for tangible property up to $2,500 per item or invoice.” | Publication 334, de minimis safe harbor |
| Simplified home office method | “The area you use to figure your deduction is limited to 300 square feet.” | Publication 334, business use of your home |
Records every one of these needs
Every deduction on these pages rests on a record. Publication 463 says “You must generally have documentary evidence such as receipts, canceled checks, or bills, to support your expenses.” The general method is on receipts and expense records for a one-person business. Photographed receipts, a spreadsheet or an accountant’s system all meet that test.
Common mistakes
- Reading a profession guide as a list of things you are entitled to. Every item still has to be ordinary and necessary for your business and supported by a record.
- Looking for a deduction that exists only for one profession. The line map is the same for everyone; what differs is the evidence and the few special rules.
- Treating a guide for your profession as a substitute for the Schedule C instructions for the year you are filing.
Related: Schedule C, and receipts and expense records for a one-person business.
Sources
- IRS Publication 334 (2025), Tax Guide for Small Business (For Individuals Who Use Schedule C)
- Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (2025)
- IRS Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
Read from the IRS documents linked above on November 8, 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.