Typically, dry cleaning would come under the ‘operational expenses’ category, as it is a necessary cost for the business to function. Your necessary expenses, such as cleaning supplies (mops, brooms, etc.), are tax-deductible.
If the clothing qualifies as “deductible” for work, then both the laundry and dry cleaning expenses will also be deductible. If you are traveling for a business trip, then any expenses for laundry or drying cleaning are also deductible. For several years, Anietra Hamper claimed business deductions for clothing required by contract, along with associated expenses like dry cleaning. However, the IRS has a two prong test that you must pass to deduct work clothing: it must be required by your employer, and cannot be suitable for everyday wear.
So if the expense is necessary and wholly incurred as part of running your business, it is a business expense. Whatever portion of your home is used regularly for business, including cleaning, can be deducted. Note that personal items like clothes (non-uniform), dry cleaning and supermarket shopping cannot be deducted. If your laundry expenses are $150 or less, you can claim that amount without documentation.
Business tax, fees, licences, and dues You can deduct any annual licence fees and some business taxes you incur to run your business. You can also deduct annual dues or fees to keep your membership in a trade or commercial association, as well as subscriptions to publications.
The IRS even streamlined this deduction: simply take the square footage of the home office and multiply it by $5 to calculate the amount you can write off. Your necessary expenses, such as cleaning supplies (mops, brooms, etc.), are tax-deductible.
If the clothes are suitable to wear outside of work, then the dry cleaning expenses of business attire are not tax deductible. A good rule of thumb is that if you can wear it anywhere else, then you cannot deduct dry cleaning costs. To be able to get the benefit, you must be able to itemize your deductions.
Small business owners try to do a tax write-off on as many expenses as possible to gain more tax credits and decrease the amount of tax they need to pay. A business must be for-profit in order to write off its business expenses.
The cost of dry cleaning and other clothing upkeep is a tax write-off if your clothes qualify as a tax-deductible business expense. Please check out the sections named, Rules for Writing off Clothing, to determine if your clothing qualifies.
However, under certain circumstances, you can write them off as a legitimate business expense: If the clothing qualifies as “deductible” then both the laundry and dry cleaning expenses will also be deductible. If you are traveling for a business trip, then any expenses for laundry or drying cleaning are also deductible.
A tax deduction is a business expense that you can claim to help lower your taxable income (the income that can be taxed). A tax write-off can be partially or fully deducted from your taxable income, reducing how much money you owe the government.