More Help for Tax Time: 25 Tax Deductions for Entrepreneurs

You might want to check out an informative slide show featued in Business Week in which Bernard Kamoroff, a CPA and author of "422 Tax Deductions for Businesses & Self-Employed Individuals," identifies 25 write-offs that you may qualify for without even knowing. When in doubt, check with your accountant to see if these apply to you. To view the slide show, click here.

The "Ordinary and Necessary" Standard for Deductible Expenses
Kamoroff says business owners can reduce their tax bills by deducting expenditures that the Internal Revenue Service doesn't explicitly outline, but are nonetheless legitimate business expenses. In general, a purchase must be "ordinary and necessary" in your trade to be deductible. Few of the often-overlooked write-offs on their own will cut your tax bill substantially, but in aggregate, they can be worth the time and effort to track and deduct them. "They're all nickel and dime, but boy they can add up," Kamoroff says.

For example, two of the most overlooked write-offs, according to the National Association for the Self-Employed, are the hom office and vehicle deducations. If you use your car or truck for business, you can deduct work-related expenses for gas, maintenance, insurance, and other costs, either using the IRS's standard mileage rate or by calculating the actual costs.

If you travel for business then you may also be able to deduct some of your travel costs. Business-related meals and entertainment are only 50% deductible, although you can't write off expenses that are considered "lavish and extravagant." If your trip is exclusively for business, lodging and transportation costs are fully deductible. If the trip mixes business and personal matters, you may still be able to write off some business-related expenses.

Aside from big write-offs like travel or home-office deductions, plenty of other expenditures can save you money on taxes. If more than half your cell phone use is for business, you can deduct the cost of the business-related calls. Write off your Web hosting and domain name charges. And deduct the cost of business-related books, magazines, and newspaper subscriptions.

Meticulous Records a Must
The key to taking these small deductions is keeping track of your expenditures, so that you can show an auditor that your write-offs are truly business-related. "It is very important that they keep meticulous records, because the IRS is going to be pretty aggressive," says Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. But business owners who take legitimate deductions, and have the receipts, invoices, or other records to back them up, can maximize their tax savings.