Do you know which of your business’s marketing expenses qualify as small business write-offs? Digging through your business expenses list from the last year and trying to find the deductible ones is a time-consuming and often inaccurate task. You’re likely to miss a lot, which means you may end up paying more on your taxes.

The better option is to plan ahead and keep track of your tax-deductible marketing expenses throughout the year. Now is the time to prepare for next year’s tax returns and make smart spending decisions for your business. So if you’re looking for business tax deduction categories to put on your books this year, here are the services PPM provides in the marketing sector that can be included on your self-employment tax deductions list.

Graphic Design

Professional graphic designers are an essential part of any professional marketing campaign. Graphics are what catch the eyes of your consumers, getting their attention so that they’ll actually read the associated text. Our experienced and talented graphic designers can create custom graphics for your business, for use on your website, social media platforms, blogs, and more.

Whether you’re having your business’s logo redesigned or having a custom infographic made for use on a brochure, any graphic design services used for business purposes qualify as tax-deductible marketing expenses.

Commercial Advertising

If you advertise your business in a newspaper, magazine, or on TV, the costs of running the ad are at least partially deductible as small business write-offs. Of course, Platinum Passports Marketing doesn’t run a newspaper, so we can’t place those ads for you. But we can help you design your ads, which would be included in the same business tax deduction categories as the expenses associated with running the ads.

Social Media Management

Today’s business world relies heavily on social media marketing, and the IRS has come to recognize the importance of these platforms in advertising. As such, they allow the expenses associated with social media management and social media advertising to be included in your self-employment tax deductions list. Platinum Passports Marketing can handle all aspects of your social media marketing campaign:

• Managing your social media profile and posts
• Responding to social media messages, mentions, and comments
• Placing paid social media ads on Facebook, Twitter, and other relevant platforms
• Promoting blogs and other posts on social media
• And more

All of these services are essential to connecting with consumers and growing your business, so they’re considered a valid deduction on your business expenses list.

Job Postings

Though not considered an “advertising” expense, we wanted to take a moment to note that job postings and “help wanted” ads are a deductible business expense under other business tax deduction categories. So if you pay to place an ad for a position within your company, make sure to include that on your self-employment tax deductions list. This is one expense that most business owners will overlook, and it can make quite a difference in your return.

How to Claim Your Deductions

The best way to ensure that you are getting all of the business tax deductions you qualify for is to work with a certified CPA and to keep detailed records of your tax-deductible marketing expenses. Beyond keeping proof of these purchases, you should also be keeping a business expenses list with notations regarding how these different services were used.

For example, don’t simply keep your receipt for our graphic design services. Keep the receipt along with a note stating that the services were provided to create a new logo and banner for your website. The more specific you can be regarding your small business write-offs, the less likely you will be to encounter any issues with the IRS.

If you have further questions regarding tax-deductible marketing expenses, contact your CPA. If you are looking for any of these services to apply to your business expenses this year, contact Platinum Passports Marketing.