21 Tax Write-Offs for Independent Social 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.624200
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.Communities are better off thanks to social workers who devote their careers to helping others.
Here at Keeper, we'd like to help make filing self-employment taxes a little simpler! We’ll start with a list of easy tax write-offs for independent social workers.
From professional membership fees to office supplies — and even the money you spend on gas when you drive to meet clients counts as a business write-off. Keep this list handy the next time you file your taxes, and watch your tax savings grow.
Deduct anything you buy for your office, like pens, binders, folders, printer ink, or a whiteboard.
Educational courses and certifications to enhance your skills are considered tax write-offs.
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.
Reference books you use for research or to hone your industry knowledge are write-offs.
If you belong to any professional organizations, you can write off the dues.
The share of your dues that goes toward lobbying isn't deductible — your organization can tell you what percentage that is.
Coaching, seminars, or workshops used to maintain your work-related skills 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.
Insurance premiums to protect you from malpractice suits can be written off.
If you buy a phone or laptop and use it for work, it's partially deductible — in proportion to how much you use it for business. The device itself is depreciated on Box 13 (or expensed under Section 179); your monthly service plan belongs on Box 27b, and accessories on Box 22.
Paid supervision hours toward a clinical credential — LCSW, LPC, LMFT and the like — are deductible.
Scheduling, client notes, EHR and billing software you run your practice on are write-offs.
Renewing your license and paying for any background checks your role requires are deductible as taxes and licenses.
If you drive for work ...
Even if you only use your car once in a while for work, like to meet with a client, attend a court hearing, or pick up office supplies, you can still write off your car 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 ...
While meetings have increasingly gone virtual, there's still an important place in business for face-to-face interaction. If you meet with an administrator, mentor, or fellow social worker to chat about work-related matters, you can write the cost off as a business expense.
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 ...
Whether you fly, train, or rent a car to travel to a social work conference in another city, you can write off your transportation costs. This also counts for other costs associated with your trip, like lodging.
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 ...
As a self-employed social worker, you might work from home on things like industry research, paperwork and emails, and attending virtual meetings.
This qualifies you to claim home office deductions.
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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