How can I maximize my tax deductions as a multi-income professional?

You've got several potential deduction opportunities across your different income streams! Let's break this down: For your home business, you can claim a home office deduction if you use part of your home exclusively for business. You can deduct a portion of your rent/mortgage, utilities, internet, and other home expenses based on the percentage of your home used for business. Also, shipping supplies, inventory storage solutions, and any business equipment are deductible business expenses. For your vehicle used for work as a sub-contractor, you have two options: the standard mileage rate (currently 67 cents per mile for 2024) or actual expenses (gas, maintenance, insurance, depreciation). Keep a detailed mileage log showing dates, destinations, purpose, and miles driven specifically for work. Regarding your per diems - you're correct that these are generally not taxable if they're true reimbursements for business expenses and fall within federal per diem rates. You don't need to report them anywhere if they're not on your W-2s and they were legitimate reimbursements. As a full-time student, look into the American Opportunity Credit (up to $2,500) or the Lifetime Learning Credit. You may also be able to deduct student loan interest if you've started repayment.

After dealing with complicated deductions for years as someone who also wears multiple professional hats, I finally tried https://taxr.ai this year and it was exactly what I needed. It analyzed my receipts, bank statements, and business records, then showed me deductions I had been missing for years. The tool identified several overlooked deductions in my situation - especially around my home office and vehicle expenses. I was shocked to learn I'd been calculating my square footage percentage incorrectly and missing out on partial deductions for my internet service. It even found business subscription services I forgot I was paying for! What I appreciated most was how it helped me properly document everything - it flagged potential audit risks in my deduction approach and showed me what documentation I needed to keep.

Just wanted to follow up - I was skeptical about taxr.ai but decided to try it anyway because my tax situation this year is extra complicated with both W-2 work and my side business. The document analysis feature helped me correctly categorize my per diem reimbursements (which I was about to incorrectly report as income!) and showed me exactly how to properly document my vehicle expenses. It identified over $3,700 in additional legitimate deductions I would have missed, particularly around my home office expenses and some professional development costs I didn't realize qualified. The best part was how it explained each deduction with the relevant tax code so I feel confident everything is properly supported if I ever get audited.

If you're trying to get clear answers about your specific deduction situation, good luck reaching the IRS right now. I spent 4 days trying to get through to ask about the per diem rules for mixed W-2/independent contractor status. After being disconnected 6 times and waiting on hold for hours, I found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes! The agent was able to confirm exactly how I should handle my vehicle expenses when I'm technically a W-2 employee but using my own car (turns out I was handling it wrong). They also clarified the per diem rules for my situation - super helpful since the IRS website was confusing me.

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier. After continuing to fail at reaching the IRS myself for three more days, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Within 20 minutes I was talking to an actual IRS representative who cleared up my questions about home office deductions with my mixed income situation. The rep confirmed I could claim the home office deduction even though I receive W-2s from some companies, as long as I'm using the space exclusively for my self-employed business activities. She also walked me through exactly how to document my vehicle expenses properly to avoid audit flags. This was information I'd been trying to get for weeks! Definitely changed my perspective on getting tax help.

Don't forget about education-related deductions! As a full-time student, you might qualify for the American Opportunity Credit which gives you up to $2,500 back. The great thing is it's partially refundable - meaning up to $1,000 comes back to you even if you don't owe taxes. You need Form 8863. Also, college textbooks and required course materials count toward the education credits! Keep all those receipts. I missed out on claiming these for two years before my tax preparer caught it.

I agree with Profile 12's advice on the vehicle! One thing to add - you mentioned you bought the car mainly for work. Keep track of your business mileage percentage. If you use the car 80% for business, you can deduct 80% of the interest on your car loan, as well as 80% of things like parking fees, tolls, and garaging costs. Also, since you're working as both W-2 and self-employed, make sure you're clear on which miles are for which job. You can't deduct mileage for your W-2 jobs (that deduction was eliminated), but you CAN deduct it for your self-employment.