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What expenses can I deduct for my food blog and vlog LLC in 2025?
Hey everyone! I'm in the process of setting up an LLC for my food blog and YouTube cooking channel, and I'm totally confused about what expenses I can actually deduct. Right now, most of my costs are going toward buying ingredients for recipes and getting decent equipment for filming (lighting, camera stuff, etc). I know I need to keep receipts, but honestly I'm not sure what's considered a legitimate business expense vs. personal stuff. Like, if I buy groceries for a recipe video but we end up eating the food afterward, is that still deductible? And what about smaller kitchen gadgets that I use for both business and personal cooking? Would really appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction about what's deductible for a food content creator LLC. I want to make sure I'm doing everything right from the start!
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Anyone who filed with H&R Block got their refund yet?
Just curious about timelines this year! My wife and I filed through H&R Block on Feb 10th (first time filing jointly since we got married last fall 💍). We got the acceptance email right away, but still waiting on the actual refund to hit our account. Anyone else who used H&R Block this year seeing similar wait times? Or have you gotten yours already? Trying to figure out if it's just us or if there's a pattern with H&R Block filers this season.
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H&R Block user here. Got my refund. Filed February 2nd. Received March 1st. Simple return though. No credits. Just W-2 income. Direct deposit helped. No state taxes in my state. Hope this helps.
Filed with H&R Block on Feb 14th and got my refund deposited this morning! Took exactly 21 days. We're also newly married and filed jointly for the first time - no issues there. I think the key was keeping it simple - just W-2s, standard deduction, no credits. The acceptance email came through same day we filed. Don't stress too much @Ellie Lopez - sounds like you're right in the normal timeframe! The IRS 21-day processing window is just an estimate and can vary. Check your transcript on the IRS website if you want more detailed info about where your return stands in the process.
Direct Deposit Date of 2/26 But Still No Refund - What's Happening?
I filed my taxes the first day possible this year, got accepted right away, and my transcript showed a direct deposit date of 2/26. It's now been a week past that date and nothing's hit my account. I've triple-checked my banking info and it's definitely correct. I'm self-employed so I need this money to cover my quarterly estimated payments coming up. Has anyone else had their deposit delayed this year? Do I need to call the IRS or just keep waiting? I've never had this issue before in 7 years of filing as an independent contractor.
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URGENT FOR ANYONE WITH DELAYED REFUNDS: The IRS just updated their operational status page (https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-operations) yesterday noting a processing delay affecting direct deposits scheduled between 2/22-2/28! They're working through the backlog but not sending individual notifications. According to the TaxPro forum I follow, most affected refunds are being released this week in batches. Check the IRS2Go app for the most current status as the website updates less frequently. If you need to reach a human ASAP, call right when they open at 7am Eastern for shortest wait times.
I'm dealing with the exact same situation! Filed early, got accepted immediately, transcript shows DDD of 2/26, and still nothing in my account. What's really frustrating is that I planned my quarterly payment schedule around getting this refund by now. I called my bank twice to confirm there are no pending deposits, and they assured me nothing is coming through their system. Has anyone successfully gotten through to the IRS phone lines recently? I'm wondering if I should wait the full 21 days they recommend or if being self-employed gives me any priority for getting answers sooner. The uncertainty is killing me more than the actual delay at this point!
TurboTax Fee Deduction - Where Do They Take Money Before Bank Deposit?
I've been using TurboTax for a few years but I'm confused about how they're taking their fees this time. I selected the option to pay the TurboTax fees from my refund instead of using my credit card upfront. Now I'm wondering exactly where that money comes out before it hits my bank account. Does TurboTax create some kind of temporary account? I want to make sure I understand the whole process since my refund is pretty significant this year and I need to know exactly when and how much will actually deposit. Has anyone gone through this process recently with the 2023 taxes?
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I believe I can share a specific example that might help illustrate the process. When I filed through TurboTax in February, my total refund was approximately $3,200. I chose to have my TurboTax fees ($89 for Deluxe) deducted from my refund. The IRS approved my return on February 12th and issued the full $3,200 to the temporary account at Santa Barbara Tax Products Group. From there, SBTPG took the $89 TurboTax fee plus their own $39 processing fee, leaving $3,072 which was deposited to my bank account on February 15th. The deposit showed as "SBTPG LLC TAX REFUND" on my bank statement, not from the IRS directly. You can actually track this whole process on the SBTPG website if you create an account.
This is incredibly helpful! I had no idea the deposit would show up from SBTPG rather than the IRS. That explains why I couldn't find anything when I was searching for IRS deposits in my transaction history from last year.
Thanks for the real numbers. That $39 fee seems high just to take payment from your refund. Almost 30% extra on top of the TurboTax cost.
This thread has been super helpful! I'm in the exact same situation as Maria - chose to pay TurboTax fees from my refund and was confused about the process. Based on everyone's explanations, it sounds like the key things to know are: 1) Your refund goes to SBTPG first, not directly to your bank, 2) They deduct TurboTax fees PLUS an additional $39 processing fee, 3) This adds 2-5 business days to your timeline, and 4) You can track the process on the SBTPG website. I wish TurboTax made this clearer upfront, but at least now I know what to expect when my refund comes through!
Amelia Dietrich
One thing nobody has mentioned yet is inventory tracking for long-lasting items. I create baking content, and things like specialty flours, extracts, etc. that I buy in bulk and use across multiple videos need to be tracked differently than ingredients used completely in a single video. If you're buying equipment or supplies that will last for multiple projects, you might need to look into depreciation rather than expensing the full amount in year one (especially for items over $2,500).
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Kaiya Rivera
Wait is that true even for food ingredients? I thought groceries would always just be regular expenses no matter what. I'm buying vanilla beans in bulk to make extract for future videos - should I be tracking that differently?
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Shelby Bauman
For bulk food ingredients like vanilla beans, you're generally fine treating them as regular business expenses rather than inventory since they're consumable supplies used in your content creation process. The IRS typically allows food bloggers and content creators to expense ingredients when purchased, even if used across multiple projects. The inventory/depreciation rules Amelia mentioned mainly apply to equipment and non-consumable assets. So your vanilla beans for extract-making would just be a regular business expense - keep the receipt and note it's for content creation. The key is that you're using them directly in your business operations (making content) rather than holding them for resale. However, if you're buying truly massive quantities that will last years, it might be worth asking a tax professional about your specific situation. But for most food content creators buying reasonable amounts of bulk ingredients, standard expense treatment is perfectly appropriate.
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Ava Martinez
This thread is a goldmine of information! As someone who's been putting off starting my food blog LLC because I was overwhelmed by the tax implications, you've all given me the confidence to move forward. One thing I'm curious about that hasn't been covered - what about when you're developing a recipe that doesn't work out? Like if I spend $50 on ingredients for a recipe that ends up being a complete disaster and never gets published, is that still deductible as a business expense? Or do I need to show that every expense resulted in actual content? Also, for those using the tracking apps mentioned (especially taxr.ai), do they help with quarterly estimated tax payments, or is that something I'd need to handle separately? I know LLCs typically need to make quarterly payments, and I want to make sure I'm not caught off guard come tax season. The separate business credit card advice is definitely something I'm going to implement right away - it sounds like it makes everything so much cleaner from an accounting perspective. Thanks everyone for sharing such detailed experiences!
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Kristin Frank
Great question about failed recipes! Yes, those ingredients are absolutely still deductible as business expenses - research and development is a normal part of any business, and recipe testing definitely falls under that category. You don't need to prove that every expense resulted in published content, just that the expense was made with legitimate business intent (developing content for your blog/vlog). In fact, failed recipes are often some of the most valuable learning experiences that inform your successful content later. I'd recommend keeping notes about what you were trying to achieve with failed recipes - it shows clear business purpose and helps document your recipe development process. Regarding quarterly taxes, most expense tracking apps (including the ones mentioned here) help you categorize and total your deductions, but estimating quarterly payments usually requires additional calculation since it depends on your total expected income, not just expenses. You'll want to work with a tax professional or use tax estimation software to figure out your quarterly payment amounts based on your projected profits. The separate business credit card is definitely the way to go - it makes everything so much cleaner and shows clear separation between personal and business activities, which the IRS loves to see!
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