The 2025 Tax Deduction Guide for Social Media Influencers and Creators

Creating viral content is the fun part—watching the likes explode and dollars roll in as you post about that product you can't live without. Managing the taxes that come with your influencer income? Not so much. Your parents still may not be able to explain what you do for work, but the IRS knows exactly what you are: a business owner.

Since "professional TikToker" wasn't exactly a career option when tax laws were written, there's still a lot of confusion about what influencers can actually deduct. Because of that, most influencers leave thousands on the table every tax season because they don't know what they can legally deduct from this emerging industry.

Top Tax Deductions for Social Media Influencers

Platform Commission Fees (Your Biggest Hidden Deduction)

Every platform takes a cut of your earnings, and each of these fees is likely tax-deductible. These commission costs add up fast, but most influencers forget to track them. Platform fees you can typically deduct include:

• OnlyFans platform fees (20% of all earnings): If you're earning $5,000 monthly, that's $1,000 in deductible fees

• Patreon processing fees and transaction costs: Usually 5-12%, depending on your tier

• Cameo commission deductions (25% per video): On a $100 video, that's $25 you can write off

• TikTok Creator Fund processing fees: Small but they add up across thousands of views

• YouTube channel membership platform cuts: YouTube takes 30% of membership revenue

• Twitch subscription revenue sharing costs: Twitch keeps 50% of most subscription fees

• Instagram and Facebook creator bonus program fees: Meta's cut of your creator earnings

• PayPal, Venmo, and Stripe transaction fees: Usually 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction

• Currency conversion fees for international brand partnerships: Can be 3-4% on overseas payments

• Third-party payment app processing costs: CashApp, Zelle, and other platform fees

Note: These fees are current at the time of publication (June 2025), but if you’re a creator, you know that they can change. When platform fees change, increases are usually communicated in writing to creators.

Content Creation Equipment and Software

Photography taught us that professional equipment is essential—and expensive. The same applies to influencer gear. Every camera, microphone, and editing subscription you need to create content likely qualifies as a business expense. Essential equipment deductions include:

• Camera bodies and lenses: From iPhone upgrades to professional DSLRs for high-quality content

• Stabilizers, gimbals, and tripods: Essential for smooth video content and consistent framing

• Audio equipment and wireless microphones: Clear audio separates amateur from professional content

• Professional lighting and ring lights: Good lighting can make phone footage look cinematic

• Memory cards and external storage drives: 4K video files eat storage space fast

• Streaming equipment for live content: Capture cards, stream decks, and broadcasting gear

• Computer equipment (laptops, desktops, monitors): Powerful enough to handle video editing and multitasking

• Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions: Industry standard for video editing, photo editing, and design

• Video and photo editing software: Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro alternatives, mobile editing apps

• Social media management platforms: Hootsuite, Buffer, Later for scheduling across platforms

• Analytics and audience insight tools: Understanding your audience drives better content decisions

• Cloud storage services: Backup protection for years of content creation

• Design platforms like Canva Pro: Professional graphics without hiring a designer

The line between personal and business use gets blurry when your phone doubles as your camera and your laptop handles both Netflix and video editing. If you use equipment for both personal and business purposes, you can only deduct the percentage used for your influencer work, so track your usage honestly.

Home Office and Studio Expenses

Working from home or renting a dedicated studio means you can deduct workspace costs. The home office deduction applies whether you're editing videos in your bedroom or running a full studio setup in your garage. If you rent external studio space, those costs work differently but are often fully deductible.

Workspace deductions you can typically claim:

• Home office space: Use the simplified method ($5 per square foot, up to 300 sq ft) or actual expenses

• Rent or mortgage interest: Business portion for home offices, full amount for rented studios

• Utilities: Electricity, water, and internet costs that support your content creation

• Insurance: Home insurance (business percentage) or studio rental insurance

• Studio rental fees: Hourly, daily, or monthly rates for professional spaces

• Equipment rentals: Professional lighting and camera gear from studios

• Props and backdrop purchases: Seamless paper, fabric backdrops, and styling elements

• Furniture: Desks, chairs, and storage solutions for your workspace

• Lighting setup: Permanent installation for consistent content quality

• Acoustic treatment: Foam panels and soundproofing for clear audio

If you're using your home as an office, you can only deduct the business percentage of expenses. If you rent a studio, the entire cost is typically deductible.

To qualify for home office deductions, the space must be used regularly and exclusively for business—no dining room tables that double as editing stations. It must be your principal place of business or where you regularly meet clients. Even a small, dedicated workspace can lead to meaningful tax savings.

Find out what’s eligible to deduct and step-by-step instructions on how to calculate your deduction. Learn everything about the home office deduction →

Business Travel and Transportation

Brand events, conferences, and collaboration trips aren't just networking—they're business travel with significant tax benefits.

When you travel for business purposes, most related costs qualify for deductions. This includes flights and transportation to brand partnership events or influencer meet-ups, as well as hotel and accommodation costs. You can typically deduct 50% of meal expenses during business travel, and most conference registration fees for industry events, workshops, and networking opportunities are fully deductible

When it comes to deducting vehicle expenses related to travel for work, you have two options:

• Standard Mileage Rate: Simply track your business miles and multiply by the IRS rate, which typically changes each year.

• Actual Expenses Method: Track all vehicle costs (gas, insurance, maintenance, payments) and deduct the percentage used for business.

Document the business purpose of each trip. Attending a conference with your influencer agency? That's likely business travel. Adding a personal vacation to a brand event? Only the business portion qualifies for deductions.

Stop losing money on missed deductions

Found's built-in tax tools automatically track and categorize your business expenses, so you can maximize your deductions.

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Professional Services and Contractor Payments

If you've ever spent an entire workday editing a 60-second TikTok, you know this work isn't as easy as it looks—and you definitely can't do it all solo. The contractors you hire to scale your business represent significant deductible expenses.

Content Creation Team

Building quality content consistently requires professional support. Video editors help you maintain posting schedules across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram as your audience grows. Graphic designers create thumbnails and branded materials that increase click-through rates and maintain visual consistency. Photographers provide high-quality images for brand partnerships and press opportunities that phone cameras can't match.

Business Operations Support

Managing your influencer business involves more than creating content. Social media managers maintain a consistent presence and engagement across platforms so you can focus on creation. Virtual assistants handle collaboration inquiries, calendar coordination, and email management that can quickly overwhelm solo creators. Bookkeepers track income from multiple revenue streams and keep your finances organized for tax time.

Professional Advisory Services

Growing your influence requires strategic guidance and legal protection. Business coaches or consultants offer strategic advice to help you scale your reach and revenue. Legal services protect you during brand partnership negotiations and contract reviews. Tax preparation and accounting fees help you navigate complex multi-platform income reporting requirements.

Marketing and Brand Development

Professional marketing support amplifies your reach beyond organic growth. Web developers create portfolio sites that impress brands during outreach. Copywriters craft professional captions and content for sponsored campaigns. Public relations specialists secure media coverage and manage your public image as your influence grows.

Did you know? Managing 1099s and contractor payments is even easier with Found's contractor management tools. There are no per-contractor fees, which means it's not even a business expense to deduct. Learn how to onboard, pay, and manage your 1099 contractors. →

Marketing and Advertising Expenses

You know that frustrating moment when your best content gets 200 views while your throwaway post somehow goes viral? Growing your audience requires more than hoping the algorithm gods smile on you. Strategic marketing investment helps you reach new audiences consistently, and these promotional costs directly support your business growth and likely qualify as tax deductions.

Marketing expenses you can typically deduct:

• Social media advertising across all platforms: Promoted posts, story ads, and video campaigns that push your content beyond organic reach limits

• Website hosting and domain registration: Professional portfolio sites and link-in-bio pages that convert followers into customers

• Email marketing platform subscriptions: Mailchimp, Substack, or Beehiiv for building direct relationships with your audience through newsletters

• SEO tools and optimization services: Ranking higher in search results when people look for content in your niche

• Paid post promotion and boosting: Increasing reach beyond your organic audience when important content needs more visibility

• Cross-platform advertising campaigns: Driving traffic between TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to grow your presence everywhere

• Collaboration costs with other creators: Paid partnerships or revenue sharing for cross-promotion that expands your reach

• Contest and giveaway prizes: Building engagement and attracting new followers through strategic audience growth campaigns

• Business cards and promotional materials: Networking tools for industry events, brand meetings, and creator meetups

• Networking event costs: Tickets to industry meetups, creator gatherings, and conferences where you build business relationships

• Professional membership dues: Creator economy organizations and industry associations that provide credibility and networking

• Influencer marketing platform fees: AspireIQ, Grin, or other campaign management tools that help you land brand partnerships

Insurance and Business Protection

Insurance premiums may not be the most exciting business expense, but they're a critical investment in protecting everything you've built. Equipment theft, data breaches, or disputes over brand partnerships can derail your influencer business without proper insurance coverage. The good news? Your insurance premiums are likely deductible as a business expense.

Here are a few types of insurance premiums influencers should consider:

• Professional liability insurance

• Equipment coverage

• General liability insurance

• Business interruption insurance

• Rental equipment insurance

• Cyber liability insurance

Social media influencer gigs don’t typically come with healthcare, but you can often deduct your health insurance premiums as a business expense. Eligibility rules vary depending on the structure of your business and its profitability. If you have questions, it’s good to check with a CPA about your specific situation.

Need coverage guidance? Find out which insurance types are essential and get step-by-step guidance on choosing coverage for your business.* Learn everything about business insurance →

Education and Professional Development

The influencer industry moves fast—yesterday's viral trend is today's cringe content, and platforms change their algorithms faster than you can say "shadowbanned." Staying current with trends, platform changes, and new skills is a legitimate business expense.

Investing in your professional development directly impacts your earning potential. Industry conferences, creator economy summits, and social media marketing events offer networking opportunities and platform updates that help you stay competitive. 

Online courses for editing, photography, or business skills help you create better content and scale your operations. Coaching programs focused on content strategy, subscription services for trend analysis, and competitor research tools all typically qualify as deductible business expenses. 

The key is to connect each educational investment to your influencer business goals and document how the knowledge gained improves your content creation or business operations.

Giveaways and Audience Engagement

We’ve all seen them. You’ve probably even entered a few yourself by commenting on a post or two. Building your audience often requires giving away products or prizes, and these engagement strategies could be considered business marketing expenses. 

Contest and Giveaway Costs

Building your audience through giveaways is a proven strategy, and related costs are typically deductible:

• Prize purchases for contests and giveaways

• Shipping costs to send products to the winners

• Platform fees for running contests

• Promotional materials and graphics

Running a legitimate giveaway isn't as simple as "tag three friends and follow me." You’ll need official rules, eligibility requirements, a documented winner selection process, and compliance with FTC guidelines and state laws. Some states even require registration for contests over certain prize values, and international followers add another layer of complexity.

You must document the business purpose of each giveaway and track engagement results to justify the marketing expense. The cost of consulting with an attorney about contest legalities? That's also a deductible business expense that protects you from potential legal issues down the road.

The Clothing Deduction Reality Check

Skimming through this list of tax deductions and wondering where clothing fits in? It's tricky—and that's exactly why most influencers either avoid claiming clothing deductions entirely or get themselves into trouble by claiming too much.

Here's the question every fashion and lifestyle influencer asks: "Can I write off that $300 designer dress I wore in my GRWM?" The answer that'll make you roll your eyes? It depends.

The IRS has surprisingly specific rules about clothing deductions, and "I posted it on Instagram" isn't enough to make your entire wardrobe tax-deductible. (Wouldn’t that be nice?) But before you get discouraged, there are legitimate ways to deduct clothing costs—you just need to know the rules.

When Your Outfit Could Count as a Business Expense:

• Costume and Character Pieces: That witch costume for your Halloween makeup tutorial? Likely deductible. The vintage 90s outfit for your throwback dance? Possibly deductible. If you bought it specifically to portray a character or theme in your content, it likely qualifies.

• Brand Partnership Requirements: When a contract specifically states you must wear their pieces in your posts, those items are typically business expenses. Same goes for any sponsored content where wearing specific items is part of the deal.

• Event and Red Carpet Attire: Attending an event as press? That professional outfit is probably deductible. Walking a brand's runway show? The styling costs are usually business expenses. If you're attending as working media or representing your brand, the attire likely qualifies.

• Niche-Specific Gear: Fitness influencers can typically deduct workout clothes used exclusively for content. Beauty creators can usually write off stage makeup and professional cosmetics. The key word? Exclusively.

• Professional Hair and Makeup: That $200 glam session for your brand collaboration shoot? Likely deductible. Regular makeup for everyday posts? Not so much. The line is whether it's professional-level styling for specific business purposes.

What Definitely Doesn't Count as a Business Expense

No matter how convincing your justification sounds, here are a few things that won't fly with the IRS:

• That cute top you wore in one post but also wore to Target last week

• Designer jeans that happen to appear in your content but serve your personal wardrobe

• Any clothing that you'd wear anyway, even without your influencer business

• Random purchases that don't align with your content strategy or brand partnerships

• Shopping hauls where you buy clothes "for content" but end up keeping everything for regular wear

• Expensive accessories that show up occasionally in posts but live in your everyday jewelry rotation

When in doubt, it's better to skip the questionable deduction than deal with an audit. If you're unsure about a specific clothing purchase, ask your CPA. They'd rather answer the question now than defend your deductions later. (And that’s a legitimate business deduction).

How to Document Clothing Deductions

Here's what separates smart influencers from those getting audit letters: rock-solid documentation. Follow these steps for every clothing deduction you claim:

1. Save the receipt immediately: Take a photo right at checkout and store it digitally. Include the purchase date, store name, item description, and total amount.

2. Document the business purpose: Write down why you bought the item. Was it for a specific brand partnership? A themed content series? Character portrayal? Be specific.

3. Link purchases to content: Screenshot the posts, videos, or stories where the clothing appears. Save these with the purchase date so you can easily match them up.

4. Keep contracts and emails: If a brand required specific attire, save those partnership agreements or email instructions as proof of business necessity.

5. Create a simple tracking system: Use a spreadsheet linking each clothing purchase to specific content pieces, partnership requirements, or business events. Include columns for date, item, cost, business purpose, and content links.

6. Track exclusive business use: Note if items are used only for content creation and stored separately from your personal wardrobe. This strengthens your deduction claim.

When tax time comes, you'll have clear proof of business use instead of scrambling through thousands of photos trying to remember which outfit appeared where.

Your personal style and your business wardrobe aren't the same thing in the IRS's eyes. But when you buy clothing specifically for content creation, brand requirements, or professional events—and you can prove it—those deductions are typically legitimate business expenses.

5 Ways to Minimize Tax Season Stress

Influencer income varies wildly month to month (you know this all too well), and manual expense tracking is tedious. Smart planning now can save you when tax time rolls around. Here are five things you should start doing:

• Open a dedicated business bank account: Mixing personal and business expenses creates a mess you'll be forced to deal with later

• Set aside 25-30% of each payment for taxes: Tax deductions could help reduce your tax bill, but they won't eliminate it. Create a separate account now to keep tax money from becoming shopping money

• Document and track expenses immediately: Take photos of receipts, save contracts, log travel details, and record mileage. You need this documentation to support your business use

• Categorize expenses consistently: Platform fees, equipment, travel, and contractors need separate tracking for easy tax preparation

• Review monthly: Catch any missed deductions and stay on top of your cash flow.

The IRS can audit your return up to three years after filing. Solid documentation protects your deductions and proves your influencer work is legitimate business, not an expensive hobby.

Take Control of Your Business Finances 

Smart influencers treat tax planning as part of their business strategy, not an annual emergency. You're already juggling content creation, brand partnerships, and audience engagement—your finances shouldn't add stress to that mix. Start tracking your deductible expenses now, and you'll be amazed how much you can legally reduce your tax bill while building a more profitable, sustainable business.

The key is building systems that work with your busy content creation schedule. Automation eliminates the manual expense tracking and quarterly tax scrambles that drain your energy and cost you money. 

Found combines business banking, automatic expense tracking, built-in tax tools, and contractor management in one platform designed specifically for creators like you. Stop leaving money on the table and start maximizing your deductions with tools that understand your business.

Stop losing money on missed deductions

Found's built-in tax tools automatically track and categorize your business expenses, so you can maximize your deductions.

Get started

FAQs about Social Media Influencer Deductions

Can I deduct LLC formation costs and annual fees as an influencer?

Yes, you can typically deduct LLC formation costs as startup expenses, though they may need to be amortized over 15 years rather than deducted all at once. Annual LLC fees, registered agent fees, and ongoing compliance costs are fully deductible as ordinary business expenses in the year you pay them. Like all deductions, be sure to keep all receipts and documentation from your state filing office and any legal services used during formation.

What percentage of my phone bill can I deduct as an influencer?

You can typically deduct the percentage of your phone bill that corresponds to business use. So, if you use your phone 60% for business, you can deduct 60% of the bill. Track your business calls, content creation time, and client communications for a few months to establish a reasonable percentage.

What records do I need to keep for influencer tax deductions and for how long?

Keep all receipts, invoices, bank statements, and contracts for at least 3 years from your filing date, or 7 years if the IRS suspects underreported income. Document the business purpose for each expense with notes about how it relates to content creation or brand partnerships. For major purchases like equipment, keep records indefinitely since you may need them for depreciation calculations in future years.

Can I deduct family members on payroll for my influencer business?

Yes, you can hire and deduct wages paid to family members, but they must perform legitimate business tasks at reasonable market rates. Common roles include editing, social media management, bookkeeping, or administrative work. Just make sure you have proper documentation of their duties and hours. You'll also need to issue them a 1099-NEC if you pay them more than $600 in a calendar year or W-2, and they'll need to report the income on their own tax returns.

What triggers an IRS audit for social media influencers?

Rather than worrying about what triggers an audit, focus on doing everything correctly from the start: maintain detailed records, only deduct legitimate business expenses, and report all income accurately. The IRS tends to scrutinize influencers who claim excessive lifestyle expenses as business deductions or report income that doesn't match their 1099 forms. When you follow proper tax practices and keep thorough documentation, an audit becomes much less likely and far less stressful if it does happen.

The information on this website is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on, for tax advice. 

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