Schedule C Categories for Freelancers

If you’re a US sole proprietor or single-member LLC, Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss from Business, is where you report your self-employment income and expenses. Part II lists expenses by numbered line — using the right line keeps your return matched to what the IRS expects, and makes your own bookkeeping easier to audit-proof.

The expense lines (Part II)

Line	Category
8	Advertising
9	Car and truck expenses
10	Commissions and fees
11	Contract labor
12	Depletion
13	Depreciation and section 179 expense deduction
14	Employee benefit programs
15	Insurance (other than health)
16a / 16b	Interest — mortgage (16a) / other (16b)
17	Legal and professional services
18	Office expense
19	Pension and profit-sharing plans
20a / 20b	Rent or lease — vehicles, machinery & equipment (20a) / other business property (20b)
21	Repairs and maintenance
22	Supplies
23	Taxes and licenses
24a	Travel
24b	Deductible meals
25	Utilities
26	Wages
27a	Other expenses (listed in Part V)

Two things that trip up freelancers

Car and truck expenses (line 9) can be calculated either with the standard mileage rate (a flat cents-per-mile figure the IRS updates, sometimes mid-year) or the actual expense method (a business-use percentage of gas, insurance, repairs, and depreciation). You pick one method per vehicle — generally you can’t mix and match within the same year for the same vehicle, and switching methods year to year has its own rules. Whichever method you use, the IRS expects a mileage log substantiating the business-use percentage, not just an estimate.

Meals (line 24b) are, as a default rule, 50% deductible — a $60 client dinner yields a $30 deduction, not $60. There have been temporary exceptions in specific tax years (for example, a 100%-deductible period for restaurant meals during 2021–2022 under pandemic-relief legislation), so don’t assume the 50% default without checking the rule for the specific year you’re filing.

Other expenses (line 27a)

Anything that doesn’t fit lines 8–26 — software subscriptions, bank fees, continuing education, business use of your phone — goes on line 27a, itemized in Part V on the back of the form, then totaled back onto line 27a.

This is general information, not tax advice. Schedule C’s lines and the rules behind them (mileage rates, meal deductibility, depreciation limits) change from year to year — verify against the current-year IRS instructions linked above or with a tax professional before filing.