Taxes for electricians and electrical contractors
You pull the permit, front the material, and pay the helper before anyone pays you. We handle the tax side, in English or Spanish.
Nothing is due today. Personal returns start at $250.
Electrical work does not fit a simple return. Income arrives as 1099-NEC forms from general contractors, card and app payments from homeowners, and checks that show up long after the inspection passed. Costs run from a box of wire nuts to a full van build-out, and the tax rules treat those two very differently.
What electricians can usually deduct
Ordinary and necessary costs of your work. Rules and dollar limits change year to year, so we confirm every one of these against the current year when we prepare your return.
Hand tools and power tools
Benders, knockout punch sets, fish tape and flex bits, right angle drills, rotary hammers, band saws, hydraulic and lug crimpers, torque screwdrivers, linesman pliers and strippers.
Anything that lasts more than a year is technically an asset, not a supply. A de minimis safe harbor election lets you expense lower cost tools outright, with a per item cap the IRS sets and adjusts. Keep the receipt with the purchase date on it.
Test and diagnostic equipment
Multimeters and clamp meters, insulation resistance testers, circuit tracers and tone generators, receptacle and GFCI testers, phase rotation meters, thermal imaging cameras.
Sending a meter out for calibration or repair is an expense in the year you pay for it. Buying the thermal camera is a purchase, and we decide whether to expense it or depreciate it based on your numbers that year.
Arc rated PPE and insulated gear
FR shirts and pants, arc flash suit and hood, rubber insulating gloves with leather protectors, dielectric boots, insulated hand tools rated for live work, face shield, hard hat.
Glove testing and recertification counts, and so does the FR specific laundering that ordinary detergent would ruin. Keep this gear on its own line in your books so it does not get buried under clothing.
Work clothing that is truly protective
Arc rated and flame resistant garments, safety rated footwear, and clothing that is required for the work and is not suitable for everyday wear.
This is where people overreach. Plain jeans, t shirts and everyday boots are not deductible even if you only ever wear them to work, because they are suitable for everyday wear. Putting your company name on a garment is one factor the IRS looks at, not an automatic pass, so tell us what the item is before you write it off.
Ladders, lifts and rented equipment
Fiberglass step and extension ladders, ladder and conduit racks, scaffolding, scissor and boom lift rental, trencher, core drill, conduit threading machine, PVC heat blanket, cable tugger.
Rental is deducted in the year you pay it, which is simple. A purchased lift or job trailer is an asset, so we either write it off faster under Section 179, use bonus depreciation in the years it is available, or spread it out. Section 179 is capped by limits the IRS sets each year and by your business income, so it is not always the full amount.
Wire, conduit, devices and job material
THHN and NM cable, MC, EMT, PVC and rigid conduit and fittings, boxes, panels, breakers, devices, plates, anchors, strut, wire nuts.
Pull your supply house account statements, not just the register receipts, so nothing gets missed. Timing depends on your accounting method: if you are on the cash basis, a charge to your house account is deducted when you pay the bill, not when you sign at the counter, while a card purchase counts when it is charged. If you stock a warehouse rather than buying per job, the materials and supplies rules change and we will walk you through it.
Service van, truck and mileage
Fuel, insurance, tires, repairs, loan interest, shelving and bin systems, ladder and pipe racks, lettering or wrap.
Home to your shop is commuting and is not deductible. Shop to job, job to job, and supply house runs are business miles. You use one method for a vehicle, not both: the IRS standard mileage rate for that year, or your actual operating costs. For a vehicle you own, you generally have to use the standard rate in the first year it goes into service to keep that choice open later, and for a leased vehicle the method you start with stays in place for the whole lease.
License, permits and code education
Master and journeyman license renewals, contractor registration, per job permit and inspection fees, plan review, NEC code books, code update classes, CEUs, NFPA 70E arc flash training, OSHA 10 and 30, EV charging and low voltage or solar certifications.
Education that keeps your existing license current is deductible. The schooling and exam costs that first qualified you to hold the license generally are not, because that got you into the trade rather than maintaining it.
Insurance and bonds
General liability, commercial auto on the van, workers compensation, an inland marine or tool floater for what rides in the truck, your electrical contractor license bond and any performance bonds.
Your own health insurance is not a Schedule C expense. It comes off in a different place on the return, it is limited by your self employment earnings, and it is not allowed for any month you were eligible to join a subsidized employer plan, including one through your spouse.
Helpers, apprentices and subbed out trades
Wages and payroll taxes for your crew, plus payments to other licensed trades you brought onto a job.
Get a signed W-9 before the first check, and file a Form 1099-NEC for a noncorporate contractor once your payments for the year reach the IRS reporting threshold. Calling an apprentice a subcontractor does not make him one when he uses your van, your tools and your schedule. Classification follows the facts, and the bill for getting it wrong lands on you.
Shop, storage and back office
Warehouse or storage unit rent for reels, conduit and fixtures, estimating and takeoff software, dispatch and invoicing software, bookkeeping software, GPS fleet tracking, answering service, business phone line.
A home office has to be used regularly and only for the business, with nothing personal going on in that space. The kitchen table does not qualify. When a qualifying home office is your principal place of business, the drive to the first job of the day can count as business mileage instead of a commute.
Advertising and lead costs
Truck lettering, yard signs, local and search ads, lead fees from home service platforms, website and hosting, branded shirts and magnets.
Meals are not advertising. Lunch you buy for yourself on a jobsite is not deductible. Food for a customer or a crew meeting is only partly deductible, at a share the IRS sets, and business gifts are capped per person per year.
A sole owner with no separate entity files on Schedule C, and that stays workable while profit is modest. When net profit is consistently strong and predictable, an S-corp election can lower self employment tax, as long as you run real payroll at reasonable compensation and can absorb the added filing and bookkeeping cost. One thing specific to your trade: your license, your bond and your workers compensation coverage are usually tied to a particular licensed entity or qualifier, so check with your licensing board before moving contracts into a new company.
What to bring us
You do not need all of it to start. Send what you have and your checklist shows what is still open.
- Every 1099-NEC from general contractors, builders and property managers, plus any 1099-K from card readers or payment apps
- Your invoices for the full year or your accounting file, including jobs billed but not yet collected and any retainage a GC is still holding
- Supply house account statements for the year, along with the card and cash purchase receipts, so we can match the charges to when you actually paid them
- Vehicle records for each truck or van: total miles and business miles, plus the loan or lease paperwork, insurance, fuel and repair receipts
- Tool and equipment purchases with dates and amounts, especially the larger items like benders, meters, lifts, generators and trailers
- License and permit records: state or county renewals, CEU and code class receipts, and the permit and inspection fees you paid out of pocket
- Insurance and bond documents: general liability, commercial auto, workers compensation, tool floater, and your license or performance bonds
- Payroll reports for employees, and a signed W-9 for every helper or sub you paid during the year
- Home office details only if a room or clearly defined space is used regularly and only for the business: its square footage, the total size of the home, and your rent or mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities and insurance
- Health insurance premiums you paid for yourself and your family, and any retirement contributions you made
What trips people up
Paying a helper in cash and planning to sort it out at tax time.
Get a signed W-9 before the first check and pay by check or transfer. Without a name, an address and a taxpayer number, you can lose the deduction for money you genuinely spent, and you still owe the 1099-NEC.
Running the whole business through a personal account and payment apps.
Open one business checking account and one business card, and route every supply house charge and every customer payment through them. It is the difference between a return you can defend and a return built on memory.
Writing off the entire truck when the family drives it on weekends.
Track business miles, even roughly, with a phone app or a notebook in the console. A shelved out, lettered van that never leaves work duty is a different conversation from a pickup that hauls the kids, so tell us which vehicle is which.
Trying to deduct an invoice a customer never paid.
If you file on the cash basis you never reported that income, so there is nothing to write off. What you already deducted is the material and the labor. The same logic applies to retainage a general contractor has not released.
Skipping quarterly estimates after a strong commercial job.
Nobody withholds tax from a 1099, and self employment tax computed on Schedule SE sits on top of income tax. Set money aside from every deposit and pay estimates during the year, or the whole bill arrives at once and you can owe an underpayment penalty on top of it.
What it costs
Our published list, the same one everyone sees. Prices marked "from" are starting points, and your exact number is confirmed in writing before any work begins.
$0 is due today. You pay when you sign, or you can have your fee come out of your refund, so it can be $0 out of pocket.
Questions we get from your trade
Most of my residential work is cash and Zelle, and only the GCs send me 1099s. Do I have to report the rest?+
Yes. Income counts whether or not a form shows up, and payment apps file their own reporting forms with the IRS. Reporting all of it is also what lets you deduct the material, mileage and helper pay that went with it, and it keeps your books consistent with what a lender or a bonding company will ask to see.
Can I write off my van?+
The business use of it, yes. Under the actual cost method you count the business share of fuel, insurance, tires, repairs and depreciation. Under the IRS standard mileage rate for that year, those running costs are built into the rate, while items like the business share of loan interest, parking and tolls stay separate. For a vehicle you own, you generally have to use the standard rate in the first year it goes into service to keep that choice open later, and for a leased vehicle the method you start with stays in place for the whole lease. Permanent additions like shelving, racks and lettering are handled as assets rather than running costs.
Do I write off a new bender or a lift all at once, or spread it out?+
Either can be right. Smaller tools are normally expensed in the year you buy them, often under a de minimis safe harbor election with a per item cap the IRS sets. Larger equipment can be depreciated over several years or written off faster under Section 179, which is limited by your business income and by the annual cap, with bonus depreciation available in some years. We look at your numbers before choosing, because a large write off in a slow year is worth less than spreading it across better ones.
Should I be an LLC or an S-corp?+
An LLC on its own does not change your federal taxes. A single member LLC still files on Schedule C. The S-corp election is the piece that can reduce self employment tax, and it only makes sense once profit is high enough and steady enough to cover real payroll at reasonable compensation, a separate business return, and the bookkeeping behind both. It is not automatic savings, so we run the comparison with your actual numbers instead of a rule of thumb.
Are my FR shirts and boots deductible?+
Arc rated and flame resistant clothing is protective equipment, so yes, along with rubber insulating gloves, their leather protectors, dielectric boots and the testing those require. Regular jeans, t shirts and everyday work boots are not, because you could wear them anywhere. A company name on a garment helps the case but does not by itself make an ordinary shirt deductible.
I work under someone else's master license and get a 1099. Am I actually self employed?+
Not necessarily. Classification follows the facts: who sets the hours, who supplies the van and the tools, whether you can take other work, and whether you can make or lose money on a job. Receiving a 1099 does not settle the question. If the arrangement really looks like employment, that changes what you owe, and there is a way to ask the IRS to review the classification, so bring it up with us instead of just filing the form as it came.
Let us take the tax part off your plate.
Tell us what you need and see your price. A real person on your team replies within one business day.