When you first start a home business, it may seem like it is exciting and fun. While it can be, there are many things that are involved with it that have to be taken seriously. There are a lot of expenses involved with running a home business and many of them are tax-deductible. This article highlights several things you can write off when it time to file your taxes.

When you have to buy office supplies for your business, that is something that you can write off on your taxes. It may not be sensible to write off every single marker, pen or paper clip, but items like fax machines and business software should definitely be written off. The key is to only write off things that are used solely for business.

There are magazines out there for everyone and you may need to read a few if you want to keep up with what is going on in your industry. While the Internet has a lot of information, it would not hurt you to subscribe to a few trade magazines. If the magazines you purchased are a genuine need for you in order for you to run your business, these can be written off as well.

Do not think that you can write off your entire phone bill just because you use the phone to make a few calls. That will give the IRS ample reason to penalize you for fraud. You can write off your service if it is a dedicated business line. If you have added a second phone line to your account to be used for business only, that is deductible.

The Internet is another expense that should only be written off if you use it for business alone. If you spend countless hours shopping online and one hour doing work on it, you should not try to deduct that. In the event that you have a laptop that you use for business and you do not use it for any personal reasons, it is okay for you to write that off.

If you are selling things as part of your business, you are allowed to deduct any money that you use in order to ship things to people. If you only use shipping services every once in a while, it will not make much of a difference, but if you use it a lot, that can save you a ton of money. Keep all of the receipts you give from making shipments.

Many people make the mistake of forgetting to deduct mileage when they file their tax returns. If you use your car for anything that relates to your business, you can deduct that. You have to keep accurate records of this in case there are any questions.

Those are just several things you can write off if you have a home business. Make sure to keep good records and save all of your receipts so you will have all of the proof you need in case you are audited.