Aug 13, 2026 · 16 min · 8 segments
Are you maximizing your small business tax deductions or leaving money on the table? In this episode, we break down how to navigate IRS business expenses so you can stay compliant and keep more of…
Ryan DerousseauHost
When we're talking about tax deductions, what we're talking about are things that you can write off on the tax form because you run a business, right? So you operate this business and there's going to be natural expenses for doing so, whether it's, you know, Cost of goods, cost of software, cost of things that you need in order to operate.
On a basic level, this is something that is very easy for people to understand and very easy to wrap their head around.
But what happens is that people hear of others writing everything off, and then it becomes, well...
Is that what I should be doing? Or should I be doing more? Should I be doing less? How should I look at the business expenses? And one thing that's important to keep in mind as we go down this discussion is remember that an expense is an expense, right? So you write a business expense off.
I liken the... tax deduction that you get for writing off the business expense as you get a coupon on that amount.
And the coupon is the amount that you would be taxed if it wasn't a business expense, right? So if you are of the 24% tax bracket, then you are getting a 24% coupon on that product.
But that doesn't mean you should necessarily buy that product just because you can get the 24% off because really what we need to make sure is that the business is profitable by the end of the day.
And if all these expenses that build up, make it impossible for that business to be profitable, then that is not a worthwhile expense most likely.
In fact, you may be sinking yourself in order to just get a 24% discount off of the expense.
And so when you're evaluating whether to take the business expense or not, first, the first question is, do you need this expense for the business? Or do you need this expense that can be used for the business in some way? Because if not, then no, don't do it.
That's not a good use of your money because you could give that self to your personal side, pay taxes on it and be able to spend it.
So Start there whenever you're evaluating your expenses is what are the ones that you actually need and what are the ones that you're just kind of boosting things up in order to reduce your taxes, but you actually don't get any benefit out of because those are the ones we want to avoid.
When we're talking about tax deductions, what we're talking about are things that you can write off on the tax form because you run a business, right? So you operate this business and there's going to be natural expenses for doing so, whether it's, you know, Cost of goods, cost of software, cost of things that you need in order to operate.
On a basic level, this is something that is very easy for people to understand and very easy to wrap their head around.
But what happens is that people hear of others writing everything off, and then it becomes, well...
Is that what I should be doing? Or should I be doing more? Should I be doing less? How should I look at the business expenses? And one thing that's important to keep in mind as we go down this discussion is remember that an expense is an expense, right? So you write a business expense off.
I liken the... tax deduction that you get for writing off the business expense as you get a coupon on that amount.
And the coupon is the amount that you would be taxed if it wasn't a business expense, right? So if you are of the 24% tax bracket, then you are getting a 24% coupon on that product.
But that doesn't mean you should necessarily buy that product just because you can get the 24% off because really what we need to make sure is that the business is profitable by the end of the day.
And if all these expenses that build up, make it impossible for that business to be profitable, then that is not a worthwhile expense most likely.
In fact, you may be sinking yourself in order to just get a 24% discount off of the expense.
And so when you're evaluating whether to take the business expense or not, first, the first question is, do you need this expense for the business? Or do you need this expense that can be used for the business in some way? Because if not, then no, don't do it.
That's not a good use of your money because you could give that self to your personal side, pay taxes on it and be able to spend it.
So Start there whenever you're evaluating your expenses is what are the ones that you actually need and what are the ones that you're just kind of boosting things up in order to reduce your taxes, but you actually don't get any benefit out of because those are the ones we want to avoid.
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