Tax Deductions for Event Planning: What Owners Commonly Miss
Last updated: October 17, 2026Written by Shane Atkins, founder of TaxSaver Pro
Event planners juggle vendor coordination, site visits, and client communication, with costs spread across every event. It's easy to let a deductible cost get paid and forgotten. This guide covers the deductions event planning owners most often overlook.
Commonly missed deductions
01Home office
- What qualifies
- Space for planning, vendor coordination, and admin.
- What doesn't qualify
- Space also used for personal or family purposes, occasional or incidental work at home, and costs for parts of the home not used for business. W-2 employees working from home generally can't take this deduction on their federal return.
- Records to keep
- Measurements of the office and of the whole home, a photo or floor plan of the space, and, if you use the regular method, rent or mortgage interest statements, utility bills, homeowner's or renter's insurance, and repair receipts.
02Software and subscriptions
- What qualifies
- Planning, design, and client tools.
- What doesn't qualify
- Personal subscriptions (streaming, personal apps, personal cloud storage) and the personal-use share of anything used for both.
- Records to keep
- Invoices or account statements, and a short note on the business purpose for any subscription where it isn't obvious.
- IRS source
- IRS Publication 535 — Business Expenses
03Travel and mileage
- What qualifies
- Site visits, vendor meetings, and event days.
- What doesn't qualify
- Commuting between your home and a regular workplace, personal trips and errands, personal vacation days added to a trip, traffic tickets and fines, and claiming both the standard mileage rate and actual vehicle expenses for the same vehicle in the same year.
- Records to keep
- A mileage log kept as you go (date, destination, business purpose, miles), odometer readings at the start and end of the year, parking and toll receipts, lodging receipts for overnight trips, and a note of the business purpose of each trip.
04Phone and internet
- What qualifies
- Client and vendor communication.
- What doesn't qualify
- The personal-use share of your phone or internet, and the basic charge for the first landline into your home.
- Records to keep
- Monthly bills and a written basis for your business-use percentage, such as a review of a typical month's usage.
- IRS source
- IRS Publication 535 — Business Expenses
05Business insurance
- What qualifies
- Professional liability coverage.
- What doesn't qualify
- Personal life insurance where you or your family are the beneficiary, personal auto or homeowner's policies (those are covered through the vehicle or home office deduction), and insurance that replaces your own lost income. Self-employed health insurance is claimed separately, not as a business expense.
- Records to keep
- Policy declaration pages, premium invoices, and proof of payment.
- IRS source
- IRS Publication 535 — Business Expenses
Records checklist
A summary of every record mentioned on this page. Keep these with your tax return.
- Home officeMeasurements of the office and of the whole home, a photo or floor plan of the space, and, if you use the regular method, rent or mortgage interest statements, utility bills, homeowner's or renter's insurance, and repair receipts.
- Software and subscriptionsInvoices or account statements, and a short note on the business purpose for any subscription where it isn't obvious.
- Travel and mileageA mileage log kept as you go (date, destination, business purpose, miles), odometer readings at the start and end of the year, parking and toll receipts, lodging receipts for overnight trips, and a note of the business purpose of each trip.
- Phone and internetMonthly bills and a written basis for your business-use percentage, such as a review of a typical month's usage.
- Business insurancePolicy declaration pages, premium invoices, and proof of payment.
Related guides
Go deeper on the rules behind these deductions
Educational guidance only, not tax advice. Talk to a tax professional about your situation.