21 Tax Write-Offs for Freelance Restaurant Workers
NAICS business codeYour NAICS business code is a six-digit string of numbers that shows the type of work your business does. NAICS stands for North American Industry Classification System. When you do your taxes, you'll enter it in Box B of your Schedule C.722511
Reviewed bySabrina Wiechart, CPASabrina is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 15 years of experience in tax preparation, planning, and S-Corp compliance. She holds a Master’s in Accounting and specializes in helping self-employed individuals make smart tax decisions. Sabrina is passionate about simplifying the S-Corp process and making sure every client keeps more of what they earn.Whether you're finding shifts through an app like Gigpro or going it alone, freelance restaurant workers like you often spend long hours on their feet. Still, sitting down to file self-employment taxes might not be a welcome respite. Your first 1099 tax season might, especially, come with a dose of sticker shock.
The good news is that you can significantly lower your tax bill by writing off your business expenses — and an app like Keeper can keep track of all those write-offs for you.
Business expenses include things like your uniform, any required restaurant training courses you need to take, and even the cost of buying pens and paper pads. Essentially, anything that's necessary for you to do your job! Read on for even more examples.
Required uniforms or clothing featuring the restaurant's branding can be written off.
This applies to clothing you can't reasonably wear outside of work. Everyday clothes don't qualify, even if you only wear them on the job.
If you need to take courses to get a bartending license, you can write off this expense.
If you buy paper and pens to take people's orders, you can deduct these from your taxes.
Required trainings , like for sanitization or bartending, can be written off.
This covers training that maintains or improves skills for the work you already do. Courses that qualify you for a new trade or profession are not deductible.
Your phone, its monthly bill, and accessories are all partially deductible, in proportion to business use. The phone itself is depreciated on Box 13 (or expensed under Section 179); the monthly bill belongs on Box 27b, and accessories on Box 22.
Shakers, jiggers, openers and knife sets you bring to private events are deductible supplies. A higher-value set bought all at once gets depreciated on Box 13.
The cut a staffing or gig app takes from your pay — plus any membership or matching fee — is deductible.
Serving alcohol carries its own liability exposure — coverage for it is a write-off.
If you drive for work ...
Restaurant workers who need to use their car for work, like driving to pick up uniforms, can write off vehicle-related expenses.
Parking for a meeting downtown, or any other work trip, is tax-deductible!
A toll while driving to or from a work destination is tax-deductible!
If you buy a new car, you can write off part of the cost every year for five years.
Flashlights, tire iron, duct tape, and other tools you may need in your vehicle are deductible.
Car insurance monthly fees, registration, even roadside assistance are partially deductible — if you use the actual expense method. The standard mileage rate already covers them.
Oil changes, repairs, and regular checkups are deductible if you use the actual expense method. Take the standard mileage rate instead and they're already baked into your per-mile deduction.
If you discuss work at a restaurant ...
As a restaurant worker, you might invite a prospective business partner to a restaurant to talk about what the service looks like there, and how they can replicate it at their own establishment. This counts as a business meal and can be written off your taxes.
This also applies to grabbing food or coffee with restaurant owners or fellow restaurant workers.
If you discuss work with a coworker, mentor, client, or prospective client, it's a write-off — 50% of the tab.
If you leave town for work ...
Attending an out-of-town industry conference to network with other restaurant workers counts as a business trip, so you can write off associated costs.
Planes, trains, and car rentals are all work-related travel costs that can be written off.
When you travel for work, lodging expenses such as hotel rooms or Airbnb are write-offs.
When you're traveling for work, your meals are 50% deductible — takeout included. (Long-haul truck drivers subject to DOT hours-of-service rules can deduct 80%.)
If you work from home ...
While the majority of your work likely happens in restaurants, you might take care of administrative chores, like getting online certifications or managing finances, from a dedicated desk in your home. This qualifies you to claim the home office deduction!
A desk, chairs, lamps, and other home office necessities are all tax write-offs. Anything over about $2,500 gets depreciated on Form 4562 instead of written off all at once.
Repairs just for your home office are 100% deductible. Repairs to the rest of your home count too, prorated by your business-use percentage on Form 8829.
Gotta keep the lights on in your home office! A portion of your electricity bill counts.
Whether it's rental or homeowners insurance, you can write off a portion through your home office deduction.
It'd be hard to work in an office without running water, huh? Your water bill counts.
You need internet to do your job! If you claim a home office, deduct it prorated on Form 8829 along with your other utilities. Internet you pay for on the road, purely for work, is 100% deductible.
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