Is this deduction legit? Self-employed training expenses for 1099 meditation instructor

Yes, this could definitely be a legitimate business expense! As a self-employed person (1099 contractor), you can generally deduct ordinary and necessary expenses for your business on Schedule C. Professional development and training that maintains or improves skills needed in your current work is typically deductible. Since you're paid to teach meditation and the workshop would improve those specific skills you use in your business, there's a direct connection between the expense and your income-producing activity. Just make sure you keep good documentation - receipts, the workshop agenda/description showing the professional content, and notes about how it relates to your business. Also track travel expenses, lodging, and meals (50% deductible) related to attending.

I had a similar situation with my yoga teaching business! I found this awesome service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me figure out exactly what I could deduct for training expenses. I uploaded my receipts from a yoga intensive I attended, and it analyzed everything and showed me how to categorize each expense correctly on my Schedule C. The tool confirmed I could deduct the training costs since they directly related to my teaching business. It also flagged which meals were 50% deductible vs. fully deductible expenses. Saved me so much stress trying to interpret all the tax rules myself, especially since I was nervous about claiming deductions that would exceed my income for some teaching gigs.

Update: I tried taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here and it was super helpful for my situation! I uploaded the descriptions of three different meditation workshops I attended last year along with my receipts. The system clearly showed me that two were fully deductible (they were advanced teacher trainings) while the third needed to be partially allocated since it had both personal development and professional components. What I really appreciated was the explanation for WHY certain expenses qualified and others didn't. It referenced the specific IRS guidelines about training that "maintains or improves skills required in your present work." Since I'm teaching the exact techniques I learned, it confirmed this was a legitimate deduction. Definitely feeling more confident about my Schedule C this year!

Has anyone else struggled with getting through to the IRS to ask about these kinds of deductions? I've been trying for weeks to get clarification about my similar situation (I teach wellness workshops as a 1099 contractor). After being on hold for literally hours and getting disconnected twice, I found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through 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 professional development directly related to my current self-employment is deductible on Schedule C, but cautioned that I need to show a clear connection between the training and my business. Having that official answer directly from the IRS gave me so much peace of mind for claiming these expenses.

Ok I'm eating my words here. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr just to prove it wouldn't work - and I'm shocked. I got a call back in about 35 minutes saying they had an IRS agent on the line! The agent walked me through exactly what documentation I need to keep for deducting my wellness training as a self-employed instructor. Specifically, she said I need to keep: 1) Receipts for the training 2) The training curriculum/agenda 3) A written explanation of how it directly relates to my current business 4) Documentation showing I'm actively earning income in this field. She also warned that if my expenses far exceed my income for several years, the IRS might consider it a hobby rather than a business. This was exactly the specific guidance I needed!

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - be careful about the hobby loss rule! If your meditation teaching activity shows losses for 3+ years out of 5, the IRS might classify it as a hobby rather than a business. If that happens, you lose ALL your deductions against that income. I learned this the hard way when I was teaching occasional yoga workshops. Deducted my training for years, then got audited and had to pay everything back plus penalties because I never showed a profit. Make sure you're treating this like a real business with profit motive, not just a way to subsidize your own meditation practice.

Has anyone used TurboSelf-Employed for this situation? I'm wondering if it catches these kinds of deductions or if I need to use a different software for my meditation teaching side gig...

Great question! As someone who's dealt with similar self-employment tax situations, I can confirm that your meditation workshop expenses would likely qualify as legitimate business deductions on Schedule C. Since you're teaching meditation techniques and getting paid for it, attending workshops to improve those same skills has a clear business purpose. The key is that the training must be "ordinary and necessary" for your current work - which it sounds like it is. A few important points to keep in mind: - Document everything: Keep receipts, workshop descriptions, and notes on how the training improved your teaching abilities - The business connection needs to be direct - you're learning techniques you actually use with clients - It's totally normal for business expenses to exceed income in some periods, especially for seasonal work like retreats Just make sure you're treating this as a legitimate business (not a hobby) and maintaining good records. The fact that you're actively earning income from multiple centers and have been doing this for 2 years helps establish business intent. Consider keeping a simple log of how you applied what you learned in your actual teaching sessions - that documentation could be valuable if questions ever come up.