Where owners actually save

Most lists of small-business write-offs are lists of expenses you already have. The strategies below change what you owe, and they are ordered by how much they usually move. Each one links to the arithmetic, and each says when it does not fit.

Checked against its sources September 27, 2026

The levers, biggest first

"What can I write off?" is the wrong first question. A deduction returns your tax rate on money you spent, so a $10,000 purchase you did not need costs you thousands. These change the tax on money you were keeping anyway.

Strategy	What moves the number	What it costs to use
The S corporation election	Profit you take as distributions above a reasonable salary is not self-employment income. That tax is 15.3% on 92.35% of net earnings up to the Social Security wage base, and 2.9% above it.	Payroll, a second tax return, and a salary you can defend. It also shrinks the QBI deduction.
A retirement plan	The largest deduction most owners can still create, and a SEP can be set up for a past year right up to the return due date including extensions.	The money leaves your account. Employees may have to be covered too.
An accountable plan	Costs you already pay personally — phone, part of your home, your car — become deductible to the company and tax-free to you.	A plan document, prompt substantiation, and returning any excess.
The QBI deduction	Up to 20% of qualified business income, before you owe anything on it. Your salary choice changes the answer.	Nothing to set up, but it interacts with the S corporation decision above.
Pass-through entity tax	In many states the business pays the state tax and deducts it, which your personal return could not.	A state election, made on time, and cash to pay it when due.
Section 179 and bonus depreciation	Timing, not new money: the deduction arrives sooner rather than over years.	You must actually need the asset, and selling it later can claw the deduction back.
The Augusta rule	Up to fourteen days of rent for your home, at a rate you can document, deductible to the company.	Real meetings, a defensible rate, and paperwork that exists before the audit.
The home office	Smaller than it sounds: the simplified method is $5 a square foot, capped at 300 square feet — $1,500 at most.	Regular and exclusive business use of the space.
Hiring your children	Shifts income to a lower rate, and real work is genuinely deductible.	Smaller in an S corporation than the advice implies, because a corporation's wages carry payroll tax whoever earns them.

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Before you reimburse yourself, close the evidence gap

Sample Planning Letter · fictional example · educational, not personalized advice

The free idea: check whether you pay business expenses personally. The useful next step is to turn that question into a reviewable expense report—not transfer money because a deduction sounds plausible.

Start with one month's records

Consider a fictional S-corporation owner who paid a $100 phone bill and an $80 internet bill personally. Assume their records support 60% business use of the phone and 50% of the internet. Those percentages are example assumptions, not IRS standard allowances or recommendations for your business.

Item	Example calculation	Candidate business amount
Phone	$100 × 60%	$60
Internet	$80 × 50%	$40
Total	$60 + $40	$100
Already reimbursed	Subtract the recorded payment	−$40
Left to review	$100 − $40	$60

That is $60 of potentially unreimbursed expenses, not $60 of tax savings. The plan, expenses, allocation, timing and prior payments still need checking. Do not project this month over a year without checking the other months.

Build the review packet

Find the itemized bills and evidence of who paid. Keep expense dates separate from the date you prepare the report.
Explain the business purpose and the evidence for each business-use share. Exclude personal use; don’t select a percentage just to reach a target.
Compare the bills with the business ledger and earlier expense reports. Mark the existing $40 reimbursement so it cannot be paid again.
Ask your accountant to check the reimbursement arrangement and timing. An accountable plan requires a business connection, timely substantiation and timely return of excess amounts. A document alone is not enough.
Prepare a draft report showing what is supported and what is still missing. Obtain the required review and approval before reimbursement. Preserve the approval and actual payment record with the packet.

The federal rules include a 60-day substantiation safe harbor, measured from when an expense is paid or incurred. It is not a universal rule that every older expense fails. Have your accountant assess the facts and the plan’s own terms; do not backdate records to fit a window.

A message you can adapt for your accountant

I’m reviewing personally paid business expenses for [period]. I’ve attached the bills, payment evidence, business-use explanation and previous reimbursements. Could you check whether our arrangement covers these costs, whether the timing and support are sufficient, and who should approve the report? The draft leaves [items] unresolved; no new reimbursement has been made.

Replace the brackets with real facts. Do not send documents through this website. The public reimbursement form can help organize a report; it cannot establish eligibility for you.

Decide the next action

If evidence is missing, assign a person and a follow-up date. If the accountant identifies a problem with the arrangement or timing, resolve it before payment. After an approved reimbursement, reconcile it and retain the evidence so next month’s check does not rediscover the same expense.

Sources checked September 23, 2026: IRS Publication 463, accountable plans and Treasury Regulation §1.62-2. This sample has not been sent as an issue. It does not include app access or a personal review of your records.

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What does not work

Four of these come up in nearly every conversation, and each one has a rule behind it.

Your commute. Driving between home and your regular workplace is never deductible, however the car is owned.
Renting your home office to your own company. An employee, including an owner-employee, cannot take the deduction for space their employer rents from them. It is written into §280A(c)(6).
Personal costs that touch the business. Living and family expenses stay personal under §262. A business purpose has to be the reason for the spending, not a label added afterwards.
Paying family who do not work. Wages have to be for services actually performed, at a rate you would pay anyone else.

And the one that costs owners the most: buying something to "get the write-off". A deduction gives you back your tax rate, never the purchase price.

The order that works

Get the books to a state you would show someone. Every strategy below depends on records that already exist.
Settle how the business is taxed — the S corporation question — because it sets the size of everything else.
Decide the retirement contribution, since it is usually the largest deduction still available to you.
Put reimbursements on a proper footing with an accountable plan, so what you already pay personally counts.
Then look at timing: purchases, depreciation, and the state election, in that order.

Sources

IRS Topic 554, Self-employment tax — the 15.3% rate, the 92.35% base, and the wage base above which only 2.9% continues.
IRS, S corporation compensation and medical insurance issues — reasonable compensation for an owner who works in the business.
IRS Publication 560 — a SEP may be set up and funded up to the return due date, including extensions.
IRS, Qualified business income deduction — up to 20% of qualified business income.
Rev. Proc. 2013-13 — the simplified home-office method: $5 per square foot, 300 square feet at most.
IRS Publication 463 — commuting costs are not deductible.
IRC §262 — personal, living and family expenses.
IRC §280A — (c)(1) regular and exclusive use, (c)(6) the employee-to-employer rental bar, (g) the fourteen-day rental.
IRS, Family help — when a child's wages are exempt from FICA, and why a corporation's are not.

General information, not advice for your situation. Whether a strategy fits depends on your facts — talk to your CPA or tax attorney about whether you qualify before you put it in place. Your accountant remains responsible for your return.

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