1. Vehicle Mileage
Every year the IRS sets a standard mileage rate which factors in gas, wear and tear, and other expenses associated with driving. For 2024, the mileage rate is 54 cents per mile. In order to take the deduction, you simply need to multiply the mileage you put on your car for work by the IRS mileage rate. For example, if you drove 15,000 miles last year for work, your mileage deduction would be $8,100 (54 cents x 15,000). The only catch is that in order to claim the deduction, you need to keep a log of your miles.

2. Buying or Leasing a New Car
This probably wont surprise many of you, but appearances matter in our industry. A lot. This is why having a modern, clean car that fits your personal brand is so important. If youre working in Colorado, a nice new pickup truck would be fine. If youre working in Beverly Hills, an entry-level Mercedes would be an embarrassment. Amazingly, buying or leasing a new car is tax deductible.

3. Home Office Deduction
In order to be eligible for the home office deduction, you need to have a dedicated workspace at home that you use only for your real estate business. It also has to be your primary workspace. Setting aside an area of your basement or converting a spare room into an office are both deductible. Unfortunately, you cant write off your living room just because you occasionally answer emails from your couch!

4. Client Gifts ($25 or Less )
While you should be spending far more than $25 for a good closing gift, being able to write off a portion of it is still better than nothing. If you use pop by gifts as a part of your marketing strategy, you can probably write off each gift.

5. Retirement Plan Contribution
Another great realtor tax deduction is your retirement plan contributions. If you havent already set up your retirement plan, you need to start researching.
This deduction is only limited by your contribution limits. For example, youre limited to 12.5% contribution with a standard IRA, 25% of your income (up to $53,000) with a SEP IRA, and $5500 for a Roth IRA.

6. The Cost of Real Estate Software and Apps
In order to keep pace with your competition, youre going to need great software and apps. While the monthly costs for each app can be low, they can add up quickly. If youre an independent agent you might be paying for a CRM, transaction management software, open house software, CMA software, landing pages, websites, etc. Your monthly software bill can easily top $300. Tax deductions can help soften the blow to your wallet.

7. Marketing and Advertising Costs
If youre making well-informed decisions on where your marketing dollars go, there is often a direct correlation between your marketing spend and how much money you make. Top producers in this industry can have five-figure monthly marketing budgets.
Luckily, all of your marketing and advertising costs are tax deductible. Whether youre buying something as cheap as virtual staging or postcards or spending thousands on billboard advertising, you can expect to recoup roughly half that expense via deductions.
One of the most cost-effective ways to market your business is by signing up for Zillow Premier Agent. Now that you know youll get roughly half the cost of Premier agent back, this might be a great time to finally see what all the fuss is about.

8. Conventions and Conferences
If you travel to attend a convention or conference like the NAR Conference or Inman Connect, you can deduct travel expenses and lodging expenses. You can even deduct the price of meals when youre away for business, but this deduction is limited to 50%.

9. Taxi or Uber fare
If youre an urban agent like I am, then you may not need (or want) to have to deal with the expense and hassle of owning a car in the city. Instead, Uber or Lyft can be an amazing way to get from point A to point B quickly and easily. Even better, instead of paying attention to the road, I can sit back and answer emails, make phone calls, or chat with my clients.

10. Signage
Buying enough nice signs to market your listings and open houses can get expensive. Why not get a tax deduction for the expense?

11. Desk Fees
Depending on what agency you work for desk fees can eat up a lot of your profits. Since theyre tax deductible, working for a high split franchise might be a good career move.

12. Cell Phones and Tablets
You can also write off your cell phone and tablets when used for business purposes. You can get a deduction on the monthly service bills, as well as the purchase price (or depreciation) of your devices.

13. Client Meals or Entertainment
While you generally cant write off your solo lunches and dinners unless youre traveling for business, you can write off half the cost of meals where you devote a substantial amount of the time to discussing business with your clients.

14. Continuing Education
Your continuing education courses are also deductible. While CE courses are generally pretty inexpensive, every little bit helps.

15. Annual Dues and Membership fees
Another great deduction available to realtors is annual dues and membership fees. That means your NAR or REBNY dues, or dues for designations or certifications like ABR, SFR, or SRS. The only drawback is that the portion of your dues that goes to political lobbying is not deductible. For NAR dues in 2024, the percentage designated for political lobbying is 42%.

16. Insurance
General business insurance and Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance are deductible. You must have your own policy though. If your brokerage is paying or charging you for E&O, that is not deductible, unless its covered by desk fees (which are deductible).

17. Office Supplies
Office supplies like paper, printer ink, pens, staples etc. are all tax deductible. You can even write off the purchase price of your chair, desk, or office decor.

18. Legal or Professional Services
You can also write off any expenses for professional services you may use. That means fees from your lawyer, tax professional, graphic designer, web designer, title company, etc.

19. Interest on Business Loans or Business Credit Cards
Interest on business loans or dedicated business credit cards is another great tax deduction for realtors. The only caveat here is that the loans or credit lines must be solely used for your business in order to claim the deduction. If you use a personal card or personal loan to pay for business expenses, you can still deduct them, but you need to keep a record of which were business expenses, and which were personal.

20. Personal or Virtual Assistants
If youve been working in the industry for more than a few months, you probably know someone who has a personal or virtual assistant. Believe it or not, hiring an overseas virtual assistant can be very affordable, even for brand new agents.

Deductions for Small Brokerages

21. Office Rent
Lets face it. Office rent is one of the biggest expenses for any small business. Luckily, office rent is also tax deductible.

22. Office Equipment and Supplies
Like office rent, office equipment and supplies are also tax deductible. That means computers furniture, copying machines, water coolers, or anything else you might buy for your office. Generally speaking, the cost of computers and other equipment must be amortized (i.e. paying out the value of something over its useful lifecycle) over the life of the equipment to claim a deduction.

23. Internet/phone costs
Internet access and phone systems are also tax deductible. Depending on the number of agents in your office, both can be significant expenses that eat into your bottom line.

24. Franchise Fees
Franchise fees paid to national franchises are also tax deductible. Depending on which franchise youre working with, these fees can also be significant.

25. Wages and Benefits Paid to Employees
While your agents probably dont work on a salary or have company-sponsored benefits, your secretary, cleaning staff, and administrative assistants most certainly do.