Can You Write Off Your Website and Marketing Costs on Your Taxes?
Most business owners know they need a website and a marketing plan. Fewer know that the money spent on both usually counts as a tax deduction. That means the cost of your website or your ad budget can lower the tax bill for your whole business.
What counts as a marketing expense
The IRS lets most businesses write off the everyday cost of running the business. Marketing costs are part of that. Here are some common examples.
- Building or updating a website
- Running ads on Google, Facebook, or Instagram
- Paying someone to manage your social media
- Business cards, flyers, or signs
- Photos or video made for your business
What a tax deduction actually does
A tax deduction is money you spent that you get to subtract from your income before the IRS figures out how much tax you owe.
Say your business made $50,000 this year. If you spent $3,000 on marketing, you don't pay tax on that $3,000. You only pay tax on the $47,000 that's left.
Less income on paper means less tax owed. That's the whole idea behind a deduction.
What is a pass-through business?
Most small businesses are what's called a pass-through business. That includes sole proprietors, most LLCs, and S corporations.
A pass-through business doesn't pay its own separate tax bill. Instead, the money it makes — or loses — passes through to the owner. It shows up on the owner's own personal tax return.
That's where the name comes from. The business income passes through to you, the owner, instead of stopping at the business.
What if your business didn't make much money this year?
Here's the part a lot of business owners miss. You don't need a big profit for your marketing costs to count.
Say a lash artist spent $2,000 this year building a new website and running local ads, but her business only made $1,500 in profit before those costs. Her costs are more than her profit — but that doesn't mean the deduction goes to waste.
Because she runs a pass-through business, that loss shows up on her personal tax return too. It can lower the tax she owes on other income, like a spouse's paycheck or a part-time job.
There are rules about how much of a loss you can use in a single year, which is exactly the kind of thing worth checking with a CPA before you file.
Keep good records
None of this works if you can't show what you spent. Keep every invoice and receipt for your website, your ads, and anything else related to marketing.
If you build a new website or start a marketing plan with me, you'll get a clear invoice for exactly this reason — it's the paperwork your CPA will want at tax time.
The bottom line
Spending money on your website and your marketing isn't just an expense. It's an investment that can also lower your tax bill — even in a slower year.
Talk to your CPA about how much of a deduction fits your situation before you file.
A quick disclaimer
I'm not a tax professional, and this article isn't tax advice. It's a plain-English explanation to help you ask the right questions. Contact your CPA to confirm how this applies to your specific business before you file.