No one likes paying taxes. But if you’re a freelancer, you’ve got so many more opportunities for tax deductions. That means you paying less in taxes (a.k.a. keeping more money in your pocket).
Whether you’re in the US or not, you’re going to want to listen in. On this episode of the Build Your Copywriting Business podcast, Kate and I are running through a list of tax deductions that you can talk with your tax prep professional about.
These deductions may allow you to pay less in taxes—meaning you save more of your hard-earned money. And who doesn’t want that?
Listen now and start saving!
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Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!
A Sneak Peek at the Episode
[01:23] We’re gonna talk about ways to save on your taxes. Now, don’t get us wrong, we are all for paying your taxes. There are some perfectly legal deductions that you might not even be aware of that could save you money
[02:48] First is home office deductions. There is a very good chance that you can claim a portion of your home if it is used primarily for work as your home office.
[03:55] All of the information that we’re giving you now is current as of when we recorded this episode, which is November 14th, 2024.
[04:39] If you have a corner of a room that is only ever used for your office, It’s the square footage of your home office compared to the square footage of your house. And then that’s how you figure out the deduction.
[05:44] If you are working from home and you’re working from a dedicated space, make sure you’re able to take that deduction. Within your office space, wherever you are working, you can deduct, and again caveat, this is for freelance copywriters. You can deduct office supplies, most office supplies and office expenses from your tax payment.
[06:09] If it’s something that you use only for your business or to to grow your business or to make your business function, it is something that you likely can deduct. Like Zoom, Dropbox, Google Drive, Dubsado, Project Management Software, Host your Portfolio, and the likes.
[07:32] If you haven’t been diligent, the easiest things, you probably get emails from that provider month over month. or look at your credit card statements. you can screen grabs, download those PDFs of your bank statements, all of that to make sure you just have that paper trail.
[08:53] You can use as a deduction if you buy a new computer, or a furniture that you’re using exclusively for business. If you’re using wifi or your cell phone bill to conduct business. You can do a percentage of your bills. Talk to your accountant if you’re unsure about the best way to calculate that.
[09:00] One of the big tax benefits as a freelancer is contributing to your retirement. You can have a self 401k, it operates just like a 401k only. You’re the employer and you’re the employee. And you get benefits on both sides. Your reducing your taxable income.
[10:16] If you are running advertising for yourself in any way, shape, or form. Maybe you’re running webinars for yourself or you’re just sending people to your website, you can deduct the cost of advertising.
[11:33] CCA students, if you join us for CCA plus, that is very likely deductible because it is professional advancement within your copywriting career.
[11:52] If you have any professional subscriptions, things like a subscription to Ad Age or Writer’s Digest or Entrepreneur Magazine, or something that is used to increase your knowledge and your skills as a copywriter, you should be able to write those off as well.
[12:15] One of my favorite ones is the deducting your tax preparation services. So you can get a tax deductions from your tax preparation cost. So if you hire someone, or TurboTax, the software, or legal services for your business structure and how best to operate, that’s likely deductible.
[12:56] There are business travel deductions that you can look into. If you are traveling for business purposes, you should be able to write off the travel expenses for attending that meeting as a part of doing business.
[13:53] Even the cost of the event if there was like 50 bucks to attend the event. That’s likely professional development for your career, for your business. You should be able to write off your taxes.
[14:48] If you are paying your own healthcare, and you are likely as a freelancer, then it is deductible.
[17:00] I would recommend block off the next available time that you can find on your calendar. So hopefully sometime in February if you need a second day to double check, tie it all up.
[17:30] As you’re going through it, think of ways that you can make it easier on yourself next year. Having a sub inbox where whenever I got a receipt for anything, it would just go in there. And so at the end of the year, I could just open that up, print everything out.
Must-Hear Takeaways
As with every episode, we highly encourage you to listen to the entire conversation! But here are a few of the highlights:
“Software like TurboTax does it for you. It calculates that percentage and really does a really good job walking you step by step through everything and explaining everything and why things are and what to do.” – Nicki
“A self 401(k) or other retirement plan is one of the biggest ways freelancers can save on taxes. The biggest hurdle really is just setting it up in the first place. It can feel daunting, but I promise you it’s not. So, get time on your calendar to get that set up so that next year you can benefit from all of the wonderful reduction in taxes that this brings. It’s like paying yourself now and paying yourself later.” -Kate
“The key to professional development is it has to be something that you use to learn and further yourself in your current career.” – Nicki
“Your tax professional might have additional ideas or there might be new tax deductions that we are not even aware of.” – Nicki
“Doing taxes is my least favorite day of the year. However, you can schedule it in and you can get it done. I would block it out in advance and I would know that I’m going to do it on this day and then I would have a nice bottle of wine for the end of it.” – Nicki
“I a sub folder in my inbox full of all my receipts from online transactions. So anything I’ve ever ordered, it goes in there.” – Kate
“Pulling your taxes together is no fun. But what is fun is discovering just how much you’re going to save when you put all of these deductions together.” – Nicki
Mentioned in the Episode
- Ep. 49: How to Build Your Own Benefits as a Freelancer
- Freelance Copywriter Benefits: How to Build Your Own Benefits Package
Related Links
- Copywriter Taxes: Save With These Deductions in 2025
- Paying Freelance Writer Taxes in 2025
- How Do I Save for Retirement If I Am Self-Employed?
- #1 Freelance Tax Mistake and How to Avoid It
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About the Build Your Business Podcast
Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?
Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.
Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.
