Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The 2025 chart lists 541800 for advertising, public relations and related services, and 541910 for market research, with 541600 for management, scientific and technical consulting. The code goes on line B. Which neighbor reads closest depends on the principal source of your receipts.
On deductions by profession: tax deductions for independent consultants.
On choosing a receipt app: receipt apps that let your accountant in, which receipt apps export a CSV and your original images and how QuickBooks receipt capture compares with a separate receipt app.
Three rows that sit near marketing work
Marketing is not a heading on the chart. Three rows come nearest to it, listed in the chart’s own wording below.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 541800 | Advertising, public relations, & related services |
| 541910 | Market research & public opinion polling |
| 541600 | Management, scientific, & technical consulting services |
Advertising work lines up with “Advertising, public relations, & related services”, survey and research work with “Market research & public opinion polling”, and general advice to businesses with “Management, scientific, & technical consulting services”.
How line A and line B work together
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 marketing strategy and campaign planning for local businesses. The phrase can name your specialty, and the box on line B holds the code from one row.
Other rows a marketing consultant might compare
Marketing consultants sometimes fall closer to design, to market research or to call centers. These rows sit beside the first three.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 541800 | Advertising, public relations, & related services |
| 541910 | Market research & public opinion polling |
| 541600 | Management, scientific, & technical consulting services |
| 541400 | Specialized design services (including interior, industrial, graphic, & fashion design) |
| 561420 | Telephone call centers (including telephone answering services & telemarketing bureaus) |
| 541990 | All other professional, scientific, & technical services |
If most receipts come from creative layout, “Specialized design services (including interior, industrial, graphic, & fashion design)” names the design side. If the work is phone outreach, “Telephone call centers (including telephone answering services & telemarketing bureaus)” is worded around calls. A mix that matches none of these 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”.
Strategy, ads, research: where the receipts come from
A consultant may plan campaigns, buy ads and run surveys in the same year. The chart does not average them. It looks to the one activity that is the principal source of sales or receipts. The chart has no row headed marketing, so the comparison rests on the wording of the rows above.
If the consulting 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). Consultants often work with an existing guide on the Schedule C code for consultants. The ad spend you run for yourself is covered at Schedule C lines 8 and 9, and 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 headed marketing. The nearest wording is “Advertising, public relations, & related services”, and it is a broader label.
- Picking a row from the name of your title. The rule reads “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts” so receipts come first.
- Treating consulting and ad buying as one code by default. The instructions say “If you owned more than one business, complete a separate Schedule C for each business.” when they are separate businesses.
Related: Schedule C (Form 1040), Schedule C business codes: the full IRS list, Schedule C code for consultants, and Schedule C lines 8 and 9.
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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.