Tax write-offs by job: a freelancer and gig worker's guide

When you are self-employed, money spent to run your business is potentially deductible, which lowers your net income and with it the tax you owe.

But deductions are not one size fits all. A software developer and a rideshare driver have almost nothing in common operationally. Here are the high-value categories for four common kinds of work.

Rideshare drivers

Driving for Uber or Lyft makes your vehicle your main business asset.

• Mileage or actual expenses You may claim the standard IRS mileage rate, which is meant to cover fuel, wear and depreciation together, or your actual vehicle costs. They are alternatives, not both, and which one comes out higher depends on your car and your year.
• Passenger perks Water, mints, tissues and phone chargers provided for passengers.
• Vehicle accessories Phone mounts, dashcams, seat covers, all-weather floor mats.
• Cleaning and car washes Detailing and car washes that keep the vehicle in a condition you can drive passengers in.
• Tolls and parking Tolls and parking paid while working. Parking tickets and speeding fines are never deductible.

Delivery couriers

Couriers depend on mobility and on gear that gets used hard.

• Delivery gear Insulated bags, drink carriers, reflective vests, rain gear.
• Bicycle or scooter costs Repairs, tyres, helmets, lights and locks, where that is how you deliver.
• The business share of a phone bill You cannot do the work without a phone. The deductible part is the proportion used for the work, not the whole bill.
• Power banks Batteries that keep a phone alive across a long shift.

Designers and creatives

For designers and illustrators the costs cluster around software and hardware.

• Software and subscriptions Creative software, stock photography, font licences.
• Hardware Laptops, colour-accurate monitors, drawing tablets, styluses, calibration tools.
• Website and portfolio Domain registration, hosting, portfolio platform fees.
• Professional bodies Memberships of design organisations, trade publications.

Software engineers and developers

Engineers and technical consultants tend to carry recurring infrastructure costs.

• Cloud and hosting Cloud provider bills for developing, testing or hosting client work.
• Developer tools Paid editor and IDE licences, AI coding assistants, API credits, database tools.
• Home office A space used regularly and exclusively for work can unlock the home office deduction, alongside the desk, chair and monitors in it.
• Learning Technical courses, books, and conference fees.

The rule underneath all of them

To be deductible at all, the IRS requires an expense to be both ordinary — common in your line of work — and necessary, meaning helpful to it. Those two words decide far more edge cases than any list can.

The categories above are where to look, not a ruling that any particular purchase of yours qualifies. That depends on facts only you have.