Professional Photographer at $75K

Income: $75,000

Tax Savings: $8,900

Jessica, a wedding and portrait photographer with her own business

Jessica earns $75,000/year from photography. She has significant equipment investments, travels to shoots, and uses a home studio for editing and client meetings.

Deduction Breakdown

Equipment

New camera body, lenses (Section 179)

$8,000

Home Office/Studio

400 sq ft studio, actual expense method

$4,500

Mileage

7,000 miles to shoots × $0.725

$5,075

Software

Lightroom, Photoshop, gallery hosting

$1,440

Second Shooter

Contract payments for weddings

$3,000

Health Insurance

Self-employed health insurance

$6,000

Solo 401(k)

Retirement contribution

$10,000

Total Deductions

$38,015

Key Takeaways

•Equipment purchases can be deducted immediately with Section 179
•Home studio qualifies for home office deduction
•Track mileage to every shoot and client meeting
•Contractor payments are deductible (and require 1099s)

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AlphaTax Features Used

Deduction Tracker

AI-Powered Expense Categorization

Home Office Calculator

Simplified vs Actual Expenses Method