Writers: Don’t Sleep on Tax Write-Offs

If you’re not tracking your expenses, you’re leaving money on the table. Here’s how to approach tax write-offs like a professional writer in business.

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You’re running a business (even if it doesn’t always feel like it). And businesses have expenses. The more you understand what’s deductible, the more profit you keep in your pocket.

Yet too many freelance writers don’t treat write-offs seriously until tax time (aka too late). That’s money gone forever.

So here’s your reminder: if you can write it off, you should know about it.

Even if you don’t hire an accountant right now, invest in one consultation. Especially if you’re doing your own bookkeeping, planning travel, or working across borders (like I do), you need to know the rules.

They can vary wildly by location, by business structure, and even by the kind of writing you do.

What Writers Can (and Can’t) Write Off — and Why It Matters

Let’s get one thing out of the way: I’m not an accountant. I’m a working writer who runs two businesses—one in Canada, one in Estonia—and this is what I’ve learned through lived experience, hard-won knowledge, and more receipts than I care to admit. With that said…

Every dollar you spend on your business that qualifies as a write-off reduces your taxable income. That means you’re not paying tax on money you never actually kept. If you made $60,000 but had $10,000 in legitimate business expenses, you’re only taxed on $50,000. That’s real savings—often thousands of dollars.

Recommended reading: How to Get Paid More for the Same Work

But you don’t get to claim expenses you didn’t track. And you definitely don’t get retroactive refunds for write-offs you didn’t know about. That’s why it pays to learn this now, and not when you’re already scrambling.

🔒 Full subscribers: Keep reading for a breakdown of common write-offs, real-world examples, and how I handle this across my Canadian and EU writing and content businesses.