Free tool
A three-minute estimate of photography tax deductions you may not be claiming. Mileage first, then the categories most photographers reconstruct from memory in April.
This is almost always the biggest deduction photographers never claim. You do not need a total. Tell us the trips you take and we will do the multiplying.
The trips nobody counts
These are deductible too, and they are the ones that never make it onto a spreadsheet.
That is 0 business miles, worth about $0 in deductions.
Every line starts at a typical number for a working photographer. Change what is wrong and uncheck what does not apply to you.
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This is an estimate for planning purposes, not tax advice. Talk to a tax professional about your specific situation.
30% is a reasonable starting point: 15.3% self-employment tax plus a typical federal and state income bracket. Move the slider if you know yours.
Largest first, so you can see what is actually moving the number.
Proving it means having tracked it during the year, not reconstructing it in April from bank statements and memory. DandyLight logs a trip from start to end location at the IRS rate for that day, and your expenses as you spend them.
Start tracking mileage and expensesCosts higher than you thought? See whether your prices cover this
Most self-employed photographers do not underpay because they are careless. They underpay themselves because the deduction never got written down. Gear leaves a paper trail, so it gets claimed. Miles, the business half of a phone bill, a client coffee, and a scouting drive do not, so they quietly disappear by April.
This tool works the problem from the other direction. Instead of telling you what you owe, it estimates what you may be leaving on the table, one category at a time, starting with the miles you already drove this year.
Anything you buy to run the business is generally deductible: camera bodies, lenses, lighting, editing software, cloud storage, props, backdrops, insurance, studio rent, website hosting, payment processing fees, education, and the miles you drive for work. The business portion of a mixed expense counts too, so if your phone is half business you deduct half. The test is whether the expense is ordinary for photography and necessary for your work.
Yes. Gear you buy for the business is deductible. Smaller purchases are usually written off in the year you buy them, and larger ones can either be depreciated over several years or expensed immediately under Section 179 or bonus depreciation. Which route is better depends on your income that year, so this is worth one conversation with a tax professional.
You track the business miles you drive and multiply them by the IRS standard rate. For 2026 that rate is 72.5 cents per mile through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1, so a full year of driving spans both numbers. Sessions, scouting trips, client meetings, and print shop runs all count. You need the date, the miles, and the business reason for each trip, which is why a log kept during the year beats a guess in April.
Keep them. The IRS expects records showing what you bought, when you bought it, and why it was for the business. For mileage the record is the trip log rather than gas receipts, because the standard rate already covers fuel and wear. A deduction you cannot document is a deduction you may lose if anyone asks.
If you have a space used regularly and exclusively for your photography business, you can deduct it. The simplified method is $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet, so the most you can claim that way is $1,500. A dedicated editing room or office qualifies. The kitchen table where the family also eats dinner does not.