How Much Can I Write Off as a Yoga Instructor? Business Deductions for LLC

Business deductions can be tricky, especially for your first year as an LLC! The general rule is that expenses need to be "ordinary and necessary" for your business to be deductible. For the yoga classes and workshops, those would likely qualify as professional development/continuing education since you're directly using that knowledge in your teaching. Keep detailed records of which classes you took and how they relate to your business. For the lodging and meals, you can potentially deduct these if the primary purpose of the trip is business. The IRS looks at the days spent on business activities versus personal activities. If most of your time is spent in these professional workshops, you might be able to deduct a portion of lodging and 50% of your meals. Regarding massages, this is a gray area. If you can document that these are necessary for maintaining your physical ability to perform your job (rather than just personal wellness), you might have a case. However, this is more likely to raise flags with the IRS than the educational components. Keep meticulous records of everything - receipts, class descriptions, how they relate to your business, and the business purpose of each expense.

I've been using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) for my yoga business tax questions and it's been super helpful for figuring out these exact kinds of deductions. Last year I was stressing about similar write-offs for a training retreat I did in Sedona. I uploaded my receipts and a description of my business activities, and the AI analyzed everything and gave me really specific guidance on what percentage of each expense would likely qualify as a legitimate business deduction. What I learned is that it's all about documentation and proving the primary purpose. For my retreat, I ended up being able to deduct the classes at 100%, travel at 100%, lodging at 80% (because I stayed an extra day), and meals at 50% (as that's the rule for business meals). The tool even helped me create an "ordinary and necessary" justification document for each major expense category.

Just wanted to update everyone - I tried the taxr.ai site that was mentioned, and it was incredibly helpful! I uploaded my business description and some receipts from a conference I attended last year, and it gave me super clear guidance on what I could deduct. It turns out I CAN deduct my home office even though I occasionally use it for other things, as long as I track the percentage of time it's used for business vs. personal use and maintain appropriate documentation. The tool even generated a report I can keep with my tax records that explains the justification for each deduction based on relevant tax code. For anyone else running a small business or side gig, it's definitely worth checking out. Saved me a ton of research time and probably quite a bit of money in deductions I would have missed!

I had a similar situation with my personal training business last year. The IRS kept giving me the runaround about business deductions I took for fitness certifications. After waiting on hold for HOURS multiple times, I finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 45 minutes! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that my continuing education expenses were 100% deductible, including reasonable travel expenses when the primary purpose was business. For things like massages, the agent said it's all about how you document them - if they're "ordinary and necessary" for your specific profession (which for yoga and PT they often are), and you have documentation from a healthcare provider recommending them for job-related physical maintenance, you're on much safer ground. Honestly, I never would have gotten this clarity without actually speaking to someone at the IRS, and Claimyr made that possible after weeks of frustration.

Update: I owe everyone an apology, especially Profile 14. I finally broke down and tried Claimyr after spending TWO ENTIRE DAYS trying to get through to the IRS about some business expense questions for my side gig. Not only did it work, but I was connected to an IRS agent in about 35 minutes while I just went about my day. When my phone rang, I was actually talking to a real person who could answer my questions! The agent was super helpful about my specific situation with travel deductions. For what it's worth, the agent told me that for professional development trips, the classes are 100% deductible, transportation is deductible if the primary purpose is business, lodging is deductible for the business days, and meals are 50% deductible. For body work like massages, they said it really depends on your profession and documentation, but it's definitely possible if you can show it's necessary for your specific job requirements. Sorry for being so skeptical before - this service literally saved me hours of frustration!

Yoga teacher here! Been doing this for 6 years. Honestly the rules aren't super clear cut, but I've been writing off trainings/workshops at 100%, travel at 100%, lodging at 100% for the days I'm in training, and food at 50%. For bodywork/massages, I get a note from my doctor saying they're necessary for my job to prevent injury, which strengthens the deduction. I think the key is being reasonable and documenting everything. Like, if you're taking a weekend workshop and staying for 5 extra days to chill at the beach, obviously those 5 days aren't deductible. But if it's primarily for professional development, you should be fine writing off most of it.

I think everyone's overthinking this. The IRS isn't going to come after a small yoga business for writing off a few massages lol. I've been writing off all kinds of stuff for years with zero issues.

As someone who's dealt with business deductions for my consulting LLC, I'd strongly recommend being conservative but thorough with your documentation. The retreat classes and workshops are definitely your safest bet - those are clearly professional development expenses that directly relate to your business. For the travel expenses, keep detailed records of your mileage (use the standard IRS rate) and any other transportation costs. If the retreat requires overnight stays to attend multiple days of classes, the lodging becomes more defensible as a business expense. The massage/bodywork question is trickier. While some yoga instructors do deduct these, you'd want solid documentation showing they're truly necessary for your job performance rather than general wellness. A letter from a healthcare provider specifically recommending regular bodywork for injury prevention in your profession would help significantly. My advice: Start conservative in your first year while you're learning the ropes. Focus on the clearly deductible items (classes, necessary travel, business-required lodging) and build up your documentation practices. As you get more comfortable with business tax requirements, you can explore other potential deductions with proper support. Better to leave some money on the table than deal with an audit when you're just starting out!