Best Business Expenses to Track as a Freelancer (Complete 2025 List)

The difference between a mediocre tax year and a great one often comes down to what you actually tracked. Freelancers who keep clean records on the categories below tend to find far more deductions than those who reconstruct everything in March. Here’s the complete list worth tracking through the year.

Why Tracking Beats Remembering

The IRS expects contemporaneous records for most deductions, especially mileage and travel. Waiting until tax season to reconstruct a year of expenses from memory almost always means missed deductions and weaker documentation if you’re ever asked to show your work.

Home Office

Track square footage of your dedicated workspace along with rent or mortgage interest, utilities, renter’s or homeowner’s insurance, and repairs. You’ll use these either for the simplified method or the actual-expense method, whichever produces a bigger deduction.

Vehicle and Mileage

Log business miles as you drive them, including the date, purpose, and odometer reading. If you plan to use actual expenses instead of the standard mileage rate, also track gas, insurance, repairs, and depreciation.

Equipment and Software

Computers, cameras, tools, and other equipment used for your business, along with any software or app subscriptions tied to your work, are generally deductible business expenses. Keep receipts and note the business-use percentage for anything you also use personally.

Marketing and Professional Development

Website costs, paid ads, business cards, and courses or certifications directly related to maintaining or improving skills in your current work are all worth tracking as you spend on them throughout the year.

Health Insurance and Retirement Contributions

Keep records of premiums paid for self-employed health insurance and contributions made to a SEP-IRA, Solo 401(k), or SIMPLE IRA. Both can meaningfully reduce your taxable income.

Keeping It All Straight During the Year

Tracking is much easier when your business income lands in an account you don’t use for personal spending, so every deposit and expense is easy to trace back. Some freelancers use a fee-free banking app like Chime for this, since it doesn’t charge monthly fees and can make direct deposits available early. (Referral link — I may receive a reward if you open an account.)