Tax help for plumbers and plumbing contractors
You file a Schedule C, and maybe an S corporation return on top of it. The deductions that matter are sitting in your van, your tools, and your supply house account, and that is where we look.
Nothing is due today. Personal returns start at $250.
Your income comes from a dozen directions: homeowners tapping a card at the door, builders and GCs sending 1099s, home warranty companies, and cash for a Saturday call. Your expenses are just as scattered, spread across supply house statements, tool purchases, fuel, dump fees, and a van that is also a business asset. It is easy to drop all of it into one line called supplies, which either costs you money or claims things you could not defend if anyone asked.
What plumbers 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.
Your work truck or van
The service van, the box truck, and the trailer you haul a jetter on are business assets. Part of the cost can come off in the first year and the rest is spread over later years, depending on the vehicle and how much of the driving is for work.
Section 179 and bonus depreciation both require the vehicle to be used more than half the time for business, and the first year limits depend on the vehicle's weight and body type, so a cargo van and a pickup you also drive on weekends are not treated the same. If business use later drops below that level, part of what you already deducted can come back as income.
Miles between jobs and the supply house
Driving from one call to the next, running to the wholesaler for a fitting, and hauling debris to the dump are business miles. You either take the IRS standard mileage rate published for that year or your actual gas, tires, repairs, insurance, and depreciation.
The drive from your house to a shop you report to every morning is commuting and is not deductible. If your home is your principal place of business, the run from home to the first call generally counts as business mileage. The choice to use the standard mileage rate has to be made in the first year a vehicle is in service, so if you take actual expenses and depreciation that first year you generally cannot switch to the mileage rate on that vehicle later.
Tools and machines that last
Press tools and jaws, sectional drain machines, drum augers, jetters, inspection cameras, line locators, threading machines, torch sets, and the impact drivers you replace every couple of years.
A tool you will use for years is an asset rather than a supply. There are elections that can let you deduct many of them in the year you place them in service, but they have to be claimed on the return, so keep the invoice and the date the tool actually went to work.
Materials, parts, and consumables
Copper, PEX, PVC, fittings, valves, wax rings, solder and flux, torch gas, sawzall blades, hole saws, thread sealant, water heaters, and the fixtures you supply on a job.
When a customer pays you back for materials, that money is income. You report the whole invoice and then deduct what you spent, instead of leaving both sides off the return.
Truck lettering, signs, and lead fees
Vehicle wraps and door lettering, yard signs, door hangers, your website, Google Local Services Ads, and what the lead services charge you per call.
Lead fees are deductible even for the calls that never turned into a job. Lettering and a wrap are advertising, but permanent shelving, racks, and build out bolted into the van are capital additions to the vehicle rather than advertising, so keep those invoices separate.
Licenses, permits, bonds, and CE
Journeyman and master license renewals, state or county contractor registration, backflow tester and medical gas certifications, permits you pull on jobs, the contractor bond premium, and continuing education hours.
Courses that keep or sharpen the license you already hold are deductible. Schooling that qualifies you for a brand new trade or license you did not previously have is not, even though it costs you real money.
The insurance you have to carry
General liability, commercial auto on the van, workers compensation for your crew, an inland marine or tool floater for what lives in the truck, and any coverage a GC requires before you can get on site.
Your family health insurance is not a Schedule C expense. If you qualify, it comes off in a different place on the return, so hand it to us separately instead of burying it in insurance. Workers compensation covering your crew is a business expense, while a policy covering you as the owner is handled differently, so point that one out rather than lumping it in.
Boots, PPE, and logo uniforms
Steel toe or composite boots, knee pads, cut resistant gloves, safety glasses, a respirator for sewer gas and solvent work, hearing protection, and shirts with your company name on them.
Plain jeans, plain t-shirts, and a jacket you could wear anywhere are not deductible, even if you only put them on for work. The test is whether the clothing is suitable for everyday wear, not whether you personally wear it anywhere else.
Helpers, apprentices, and subs
What you pay a helper, an apprentice, or another licensed plumber you bring in on a repipe is deductible, along with fees paid to a jetting, excavation, or slab leak sub.
Get a signed Form W-9 before the first check and file Form 1099-NEC by its January deadline for unincorporated subs you paid more than the annual reporting threshold. A helper who rides in your truck, works your schedule, and uses your tools may be an employee rather than a subcontractor, and that call turns on how much control you have over the work.
Phone, dispatch software, and card fees
Your cell plan, the dispatch and invoicing software, the flat rate pricing app, processing fees on every job you swipe, bookkeeping software, and fleet or fuel cards.
Only the business share of a phone your family also uses is deductible, so pick a reasonable split and be ready to explain how you got there.
Home office and storage space
The room where you write estimates, order parts, and chase invoices, plus a rented yard, bay, or storage unit where you keep pipe stock, fixtures, and the trailer.
A home office has to be used only for business and used on a regular basis. A corner of the kitchen table or a spare room that doubles as the guest room does not qualify. A rented yard, bay, or storage unit is a straight business expense and does not carry that same test.
Equipment rental and disposal
Trencher, mini excavator, jackhammer, fusion machine, and camera rentals for the work you only do a few times a year, plus landfill and dump fees, hauling, and portable toilet rental on longer jobs.
Keep the rental contracts and dump tickets. Rent is deducted in the year you pay it with no depreciation schedule behind it, which is worth weighing against buying a machine you would use a few times a year.
If you are a sole owner with no separate entity, your plumbing income is reported on Schedule C. The S corporation question is worth raising once profit is consistently strong after paying yourself and you are carrying a crew and more than one truck, and the answer turns on your own numbers, including the cost of payroll and a second return.
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 Form 1099-NEC and Form 1099-K you received, from builders, GCs, property managers, home warranty companies, and your card processor
- Your total gross receipts for the year, including cash and Zelle jobs, pulled straight from your invoicing or dispatch software
- Supply house statements for the full year, plus business bank and credit card statements for all twelve months
- Your mileage log or app export, with beginning and ending odometer readings for each truck
- Purchase invoices for any tool, machine, or vehicle you expect to use for more than a year, showing the date you put it in service
- Loan, lease, and financing paperwork for the van and any financed equipment, including the year end balance
- Insurance statements showing premiums paid for liability, commercial auto, workers compensation, tool coverage, and any bond
- License, permit, certification, and continuing education receipts for the year
- Names, addresses, signed Forms W-9, and total paid for every helper and subcontractor
- If you claim a home office: square footage of the room and of the house, plus rent or mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities, and homeowners insurance
What trips people up
Leaving customer material reimbursements off the books because that money never felt like yours
Report the full invoice as income and deduct the materials against it. Your profit comes out the same either way, and your gross receipts then match the 1099 totals and deposits the IRS already sees.
Trying to write off invoices the customer never paid
On the cash method you never reported that income, so there is nothing to write off. What you can deduct is the materials and mileage you already put into the job, so make sure those actually made it into the books.
Paying a helper in cash with nothing in writing
Collect a Form W-9 before the first payment and file Form 1099-NEC by its January deadline. Payments with no paper trail are hard to support if the deduction is questioned, and a helper you treat as a sub can turn into a payroll issue.
Deducting lunch on the jobsite
Your own meal while working is personal, no matter how far the job is from home. A meal where you are genuinely talking business with a customer, a GC, or a supplier rep can be partly deducted, so write the name and the reason on the receipt.
Waiting until April to think about the tax bill
Schedule C profit carries income tax plus self employment tax figured on Schedule SE, and the IRS expects payments during the year. Move a set share of every deposit into a separate account and make the quarterly payments so a penalty does not land on top of the bill.
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 work is cash and Zelle. Do I still have to report it?+
Yes. Income is income whether or not anyone sends you a form, and the 1099s you get are only a partial picture of your year. Reporting all of it also builds the income history a lender will ask for when you go to finance a truck or buy a house.
I am a W-2 plumber for a shop and I buy my own tools. Can I deduct them?+
Under current federal rules, employees generally cannot deduct unreimbursed tools and boots on their own return. One option is to ask your employer to reimburse tools under an accountable plan, since a reimbursement made under one is not taxable wages to you and is deductible to them. A few states still allow an employee deduction on the state return, so tell us where you file. If you also run side work, tools used for that work belong on your Schedule C.
Can I write off a new van in the first year?+
Part of it often can be, but how much depends on the vehicle's weight and body type, how much of the driving is business, and the date you actually put it in service. Buying on December 31 does not help if the van is not yet working, so talk to us before you sign rather than after.
Should I be an LLC or an S-corp?+
An LLC by itself does not change your federal taxes; a single member LLC files a Schedule C by default. An S corporation election changes how much of your profit is subject to self employment tax, but it means paying yourself reasonable wages through real payroll and filing a separate business return. We look at your actual numbers first, because at lower profit the payroll and filing costs can outweigh the difference.
Do I have to give my helpers 1099s?+
If you paid an unincorporated helper or sub more than the annual reporting threshold for work, yes, a Form 1099-NEC by the January deadline. Get the Form W-9 signed up front, because chasing someone for an address in January is how people miss the deadline and pick up a penalty.
Do you work with plumbers outside Florida?+
Yes. We are based in Coral Gables and work with tradespeople in other states, in English and Spanish. The federal return is the same wherever you are, and we handle the state filings that apply to where you are licensed and working.
Let us take the tax part off your plate.
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