Top 5 Personal Trainer Tax Write offs
If you’re like many personal trainers, you’re too busy training clients to worry about taxes. But when tax season arrives, you wish you had spent more time preparing.
Since personal trainers often work part-time, at home or on the go as independent contractors, your personal trainer tax situation is different. Therefore personal trainers should know what tax deductions are available for you. You should discuss them with a tax professional. This article does offer tax advice for any particular personal or situation.
No matter what your situation, Personal Training Business Coach offers the top 5 write offs for personal trainers.
1. Promotional and Marketing Expenses
Promotional activities are essential for gaining exposure for your personal training business. Whether you’re advertising on the internet or off line, these expenses are deductible. Promotional and marketing expenses include everything from graphic design costs for logos, brochures, and websites. They also include the costs for placing ads offline such as newspapers and online such as pay per click campaigns. Evaluate your current situation and identify what types of advertising expenses you’ve incurred throughout the year. They may be tax deductable.
2. Home Office Expenses
Home office expenses can also be deducted from your taxes. These expenses include desks, computers, rent, printers, stationary and other costs related to your home office. Deductions vary by state and must be verified by a certified tax advisor.
3. Travel and Entertainment Expenses
Travel and entertainment expenses qualify for deductions as long as they are used for business purposes only. These include auto expenses such as gasoline and lodging expenses such as hotels. If you’re entertaining a guest and taking them out to dinner, as certain portion of that can also be deducted. Travel to and from conventions also qualify as tax deductions. Make sure to keep adequate records of business only expenses. This will help you identify which expenses are related to travel and entertainment.
4. Educational Expenses
Educational expenses including personal training certification programs may also be deducted. On-going education from industry associations, magazines, and books can be deducted. In order to qualify for deduction, these materials must be strictly for education relating to your personal training business. Educational deductions vary from state to state so make sure you confirm with a professional before deducting.
5. Retirement Plans
According to IdeaFit.com, retirement plans including IRA’s, SEP, and 401(K) in certain situations are tax deductible. One question personal trainers should ask before choosing a retirement plan is which one offers the most tax incentives without costing more money to manage.
