For most people having a home business is both financially and emotionally rewarding. However, do not forget the fact there are a number of expenses involved in starting and running your business. The good news is a portion of these are tax write offs. This article will go over some of the most common tax deductions and some you may want to ignore.

You are allowed to write off all supplies which pertain to your business, so remember to keep all those receipts. This is one of the most common tax deductions businesses make. Make sure to keep any supply receipts from your business separate from your personal one, since it is easy to confuse them.

Many people might not be aware they can write off subscriptions to trade magazines in their industry. If you are in need of an additional write off to put you in a lower tax bracket, taking advantage of this deduction is a good idea even if you will not be reading all of them.

Since you are able to write off a portion of your phone service at home, make sure to document all your business related calls. One way to do this is to keep a journal and jot down the client or prospect’s name and phone number to cross reference with phone records if you are ever audited.

As with the phone, a portion of your home internet service can be a tax deduction. In this case, it is important to document the times you actually used the internet for business purposes. One way to make this easier is to view the history of website visits stored in your computer, since business usage can sometimes get hectic and you might not be able to document quickly enough.

When you are budgeting for your business expenses, do not forget shipping cost. This is also important to factor in if you sell products. Many businesses sometimes pass this cost along to their customers, so be sure to deduct only the times your business incurs the shipping cost.

Businesses are allowed to write off travel in the form of a per mile allowance. This is then multiplied by the number of business related miles driven. At the end of the year this can add up to a substantial deduction.

There are a few deductions you might consider passing by. One of them is the home office deduction. The reason to ignore this is the IRS often considers this a red flag since many people have abused it in the past.

Another deduction you might want to avoid is writing off a part of your home utilities. This is another of those red flag deductions the IRS frowns upon. In reality, you do not save that much money by writing off a small portion of your utilities.

These are some of the recommendations of what you can deduct and what to ignore come tax season. Always remember to keep good records of all your expenses. By following some of the suggestions in this article and educating yourself more on the subject, you will be able to save money and avoid an audit.