Deductions by trade

What a cleaning business can deduct.

For sole proprietors, single-member LLCs and small cleaning companies filing in the United States. Everything here assumes you are self-employed rather than an employee with a W-2 — if you receive a W-2, the answer is different and much shorter.

Tax year 2026

Start here

Your biggest deduction is almost certainly mileage, not supplies.

2026 has two standard rates: 72.5 cents a mile through 30 June and 76 cents from 1 July, so the log needs a subtotal at the end of June. Forty business miles a day across 240 working days is roughly $7,000 of deduction — more than most cleaners spend on product in a year. Driving from one client to the next always counts. The first drive of the day from home, and the last one back, normally do not. But if a room in your home qualifies as your principal place of business, those trips become business miles too. That single distinction is usually worth more than every bottle of cleaner you buy.

Where the money actually isA one-van cleaning business, one year

Forty business miles a day across 240 working days, at 72.5¢ to 30 June and 76¢ after. An illustration, not your numbers.

Vehicle and mileage

The deduction that pays best is also the one that is lost most often, because it depends on a record nobody keeps in the moment.

A mileage log with three totals: all miles driven, business miles, and commuting milesAn app that runs in the background is worth more here than good intentions. A reconstructed log written in March convinces nobody.
Make, model and the date the vehicle was first used for the business
Actual costs, if you use those instead of the rate: fuel, insurance, repairs, tyres, registration, lease payments or loan interestGoing this way means keeping every receipt for the year — and the total, business and commuting mileage on top, because actual costs still have to be split.Tax tip. The first year decides more than it looks. Start with the standard rate and you may switch later; start with actual costs and depreciation locks that vehicle out of the rate for good. Ask before the first return, not the second.
Parking and tolls on the way to jobsThese are deductible on top of the mileage rate — the rate does not include them.
Vehicle lettering and wrapsThe lettering is advertising. The vehicle underneath is still a vehicle.

Supplies and equipment

Cleaning products, chemicals, disinfectants and deodorisers
Microfiber cloths, mop heads, sponges, brushes, buckets, trash bags, gloves
Vacuums, steam cleaners, floor machines, carpet extractors, pressure washersAnything expected to last beyond the year is normally depreciated. The de minimis safe harbor lets you expense an item costing $2,500 or less instead, if you make the election on the return — so keep the invoices with the per-item price visible.Tax tip. Adopt a written $2,500 de minimis policy before the year begins and a machine under that amount is an expense instead of a depreciation schedule. One page, signed once, settles the argument every year after.
Replacement parts: belts, filters, bags, hoses, pads
Laundering shop towels, rags and mop heads
Ladders, extension poles, caddies and storage bins

Home office and storage

This is the section most cleaners skip, and it is the one that unlocks the mileage above.

The space used regularly and only for the business: scheduling, invoicing, ordering, recordsExclusive use is the hard part. A desk in the corner of a bedroom can qualify; the kitchen table where the family eats cannot.Tax tip. A qualifying home office makes your home the principal place of business — and that turns the first and last drive of the day from commuting into business miles. Across 240 working days that one change is usually worth more than the office deduction itself.
Square footage of that space and of the whole home
The year's rent or mortgage interest, property tax, utilities, insurance and repairsOr use the simplified method: $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet, with no receipts to keep. It is usually smaller, and always faster.
Where equipment and product are stored between jobsA garage or basement bay used for the business counts in the same calculation.

People who work with you

Payments to subcontractors, with a signed Form W-9 collected before the first paymentFor 2026 a Form 1099-NEC is required once you pay someone $2,000 or more in the year, up from $600.Tax tip. Collect the W-9 before the first payment, not in January. Without a taxpayer number you are required to withhold 24 percent, and a payment you cannot report on a 1099 is the first deduction questioned.
Wages, payroll taxes and workers compensation, if they are employeesWhat decides employee or contractor is control — over the schedule, the method, the supplies — not what the agreement is called. In cleaning this is the single most expensive thing to get wrong, because it comes back as back taxes, interest and penalties for every year involved.
Uniforms or protective gear you buy for your crew
Background checks and onboarding costs

Insurance, bonding and licenses

General liability insurance
Janitorial bond, and any surety or performance bond a commercial client requires
Workers compensation premiums
Business license, state registration and the annual report fee
Commercial auto policy, if the vehicle is insured in the business name

Running the business

Phone and internet, at the business-use shareThe whole bill is not deductible when the phone is also personal. A defensible percentage, applied consistently, is.
Scheduling, invoicing and route software
Payment processing fees from Stripe, Square or a card terminalThe fee is an expense; the gross sale is income. Both belong in the books.
Bank charges on the business account
Advertising: website and hosting, flyers, business cards, lawn signs, Yelp, Thumbtack and Angi leads
Bookkeeping, tax preparation and legal fees
Trade association dues

Clothing and protective gear

The test is not whether you wear it at work. It is whether you could wear it anywhere else.

Uniforms carrying the company name or logo, and the cost of laundering them
Respirators, safety goggles, knee pads, cut-resistant gloves
Slip-resistant work shoes rated for the job

Your own taxes and benefits

Health insurance premiums you pay for yourself and your family
Contributions to a SEP IRA, SIMPLE or solo 401(k)Tax tip. The one deduction you can still create after the year has ended: a SEP can be funded up to the filing deadline, extensions included. Everything else on this page had to happen by 31 December.
Estimated tax payments made during the year, with dates and amounts
Startup costs, if this was the first yearUp to $5,000 may be deductible in the first year, with the remainder amortized. Costs paid before the first job may still qualify.

Training and certification

Certification in carpet care, floor care, biohazard or post-construction cleanup
Continuing education and safety training
Trade publications and course materialsTraining that keeps or improves the skills of the business you already run is deductible. Training to enter a different trade is not.

What you cannot deduct

The list nobody publishes, and the reason most letters from the IRS get written. None of these become deductible because the business paid for them.

Ordinary clothes — jeans, t-shirts, trainers — even if you only ever wear them on jobs
The drive from home to the first job and home from the last oneUnless a qualifying home office makes your home the principal place of business.
Lunch on your own between jobsA meal needs a business guest and a business reason.
The full phone bill, when the phone is also your personal one
Money you pay yourselfAn owner's draw is not an expense. It does not reduce the profit you are taxed on.
Cleaning your own home, or a relative's, at no charge
Traffic tickets, parking fines and penalties
Childcare while you workIt may qualify for a personal credit on your own return, but it is not a business expense.
Food, fuel and clothing for family members who come along
The value of your own unpaid time

Before you file

Two records decide most of this page: a mileage log kept as you drive, and a clean separation between the business account and your own. Everything else is receipts, and receipts can be rebuilt. Those two cannot.

Open the business checklist

Not sure which of these apply to you?

A list is a starting point, not an answer. Bring your own numbers to a free intro call and we will work out which of these belong on your return and what is missing from your records.

Book a free intro call

This page is general information for the 2026 tax year, not advice about your business. A deduction has to be ordinary and necessary for your own trade, and your records have to support it. Amounts and rules are current as of the date of publication and can change.