Can I deduct books as a business expense for my new LLC?

Yes, you can generally deduct books as business expenses for your LLC if they're directly related to your business activities. The IRS allows deductions for "ordinary and necessary" business expenses, and educational materials that help you provide your services would typically qualify. A few important points to keep in mind: First, there needs to be a clear connection between the books and your business services. If you're buying textbooks specifically to develop knowledge for services you'll offer clients, that connection is pretty straightforward. Second, keep detailed records - save receipts and note which books relate to which service offerings. The timing works in your favor too - the fact that you're purchasing these before getting your first clients shows you're investing in developing your business capabilities, which strengthens the business purpose argument.

Just want to share my experience with this! I had a similar situation when starting my consulting business. I was spending hundreds on industry books and specialized guides. I was nervous about deducting them since some were pretty expensive. I finally used https://taxr.ai to analyze my receipts and business expenses. Their system confirmed that educational materials directly related to my service offerings were legitimate business expenses. The key is making sure you can demonstrate they're ordinary and necessary for your business, which sounds like your case. For me, it was super helpful to have all my educational expenses categorized properly so I could track my actual startup costs.

I just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai since I was initially skeptical. I decided to try it with my small photography business expenses, including several expensive photography technique books. The system actually identified some educational expenses I hadn't considered deducting! What surprised me was how it explained the connection between each expense and my business purpose - it didn't just say "yes" or "no" but provided the reasoning based on tax rules. This actually helped me understand which of my less obvious educational expenses qualified as legitimate business deductions. Saved me at least $800 in deductions I would've missed. Honestly wish I'd known about this when I first started my business.

If you're having trouble getting clear answers about business deductions, you might want to try speaking directly with an IRS agent. I know that sounds impossible (been there, done that - waited 4+ hours and gave up), but I found this service called https://claimyr.com that got me through to an actual IRS representative in about 15 minutes. I had questions about some unusual business expenses similar to yours, and getting an official answer directly from the IRS gave me confidence my deductions were legitimate. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c showing how it works. Basically they navigate the IRS phone system for you and call you back when they reach a real person. Saved me literal hours of hold music torture.

Ok I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I was desperate to resolve a business expense issue before filing my taxes this week. Decided to try it as a last resort. I honestly expected it to be a waste of money, but they actually got me through to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes. The agent confirmed that educational materials directly related to services I provide through my business are legitimate deductions, even specialized books that improve my expertise. She also clarified some questions I had about home office deductions that my accountant wasn't sure about. Saved me around $1,200 in deductions I was going to skip out of caution. Sometimes official confirmation directly from the IRS is worth its weight in gold.

Just a heads up from someone who's been audited before - make sure you're only deducting educational materials that directly relate to your CURRENT business activities. Books that prepare you for adding a new service you're planning to offer soon = probably fine. Books that educate you on a completely unrelated field you're thinking about maybe someday getting into = not deductible. The line can be blurry, so document everything. For each book, write a quick note about which specific service offering it relates to. I learned this the hard way and had some deductions rejected because I couldn't clearly demonstrate the business connection.

Quick question - does anyone use QuickBooks Self-Employed or similar software to track these kinds of business expenses? I'm just starting out and trying to figure out the best way to keep everything organized for tax time.

I've been through this exact situation when I started my consulting LLC! The books you're describing should definitely qualify as legitimate business deductions since they're directly related to building the knowledge base for services you plan to offer. One thing I learned that might help you - create a simple spreadsheet tracking each book purchase with columns for: date, title, cost, and which specific service it relates to. This documentation was super helpful when my accountant was preparing my taxes. Also, if any of the books cover multiple topics, note which chapters/sections are most relevant to your business services. The $500 you're planning to spend sounds very reasonable for professional development, especially since you're being strategic about it before launching those service offerings. Just make sure to keep all receipts and maybe write a brief business justification for each purchase - even a sentence or two explaining how it helps you provide better services to clients.