Can I deduct my phone and internet if I'm self-employed?

Only the business-use portion. If you use your phone and internet roughly half for work, you can generally deduct about half the cost. This estimator asks for your business-use percentage rather than assuming 100%, so it doesn't overstate the deduction.

"Am I Overpaying?" Missed Deductions Estimator — Free

Q: What tax deductions do self-employed people miss most?

The most commonly under-tracked deductions are vehicle mileage, the home office, the business-use share of phone and internet, software subscriptions, and platform fees. They slip through because they need year-round records — small repeating amounts rather than one big receipt.

Q: How does the simplified home-office deduction work?

Under the IRS simplified method (Rev. Proc. 2013-13), you deduct $5 per square foot of space used regularly and exclusively for business, capped at 300 square feet — a maximum deduction of $1,500. An actual-expense method also exists and can be larger, but requires detailed records.

Q: Are business meals 100% deductible?

Generally no. Qualifying business meals are generally limited to a 50% deduction. This estimator applies the 50% limit automatically to whatever meal spending you enter.

Your line of work

Tax year

Filing status

Rough net profit this year — what you expect to clear after the expenses you already track. Only needed for the tax-dollar figure.

Estimated tax dollars on the table

$0.00

Pick your line of work to get started

This was a one-time guess. RevvFi does it all year.

You just estimated what you might be missing — RevvFi actually catches it, automatically, from your real bank feed, receipts, and drives. No April archaeology. The average self-employed person leaves $6,200 on the table every year.

Start your free trial See how it works

14-day free trial · cancel anytime

How this estimate works

This tool doesn't quote statistics about "people like you" — it estimates from your own numbers. Picking a line of work just surfaces the deduction categories people in that work most commonly under-track (the same categories RevvFi tracks in the app). You enter what you actually spend; we total the deductions, then estimate the tax impact by computing a simplified federal tax bill with and without them — so the headline figure includes both self-employment tax and income tax, at your income, not a flat guess.

Partial-use stays partial. Phone & internet asks for your business-use percentage instead of assuming 100%.
Meals are capped. Qualifying business meals are generally only 50% deductible — the limit is applied for you.
Home office is capped. Simplified method: $5 per square foot up to 300 sq ft — $1,500 max.
Mileage never overstates. 2026 is a split year ($0.725/mi Jan–Jun, $0.76/mi Jul–Dec); all 2026 miles are valued at the lower rate.

Why people miss these

Almost nobody forgets a $2,000 laptop. What slips is the $14 subscription, the nine-mile drive, the business half of a phone bill — small amounts that repeat all year. By April there's no record, and no record means no deduction. RevvFi keeps the record for you: bank sync, receipt scanning, and mileage tracking in one app.

Common questions

What deductions do self-employed people miss most?

Vehicle mileage, the home office, the business-use share of phone and internet, software subscriptions, and platform fees. They slip through because they need year-round records — small repeating amounts rather than one big receipt.

Can I deduct my phone and internet?

Only the business-use portion. If you use them roughly half for work, you can generally deduct about half the cost. That's why this estimator asks for a percentage instead of assuming 100%.

How does the simplified home-office deduction work?

You deduct $5 per square foot of space used regularly and exclusively for business, capped at 300 square feet — a $1,500 maximum (IRS Rev. Proc. 2013-13). An actual-expense method also exists and can be larger, but requires detailed records.

Are business meals 100% deductible?

Generally no — qualifying business meals are generally limited to 50%. The estimator applies that limit automatically to whatever you enter.

Estimate only — not tax advice. This tool estimates what a set of commonly-missed deductions might be worth using simplified federal math (self-employment tax, the standard deduction, the half-SE-tax deduction, and the §199A QBI deduction). It assumes the amounts you enter are legitimate business expenses, that equipment is fully expensed in the year of purchase, and that you have no W-2 wages. It does not model depreciation, the actual-expense vehicle or home-office methods, QBI phase-outs, credits, or state and local taxes — whether any expense is deductible depends on your specific facts. Consult a qualified tax professional for advice specific to your situation.