When Are Cleaning Services Tax Deductible?
It’s been said that in life, there are three things you can count on:
Death
Taxes; and
A dirty bathroom
Whether you own a home or a business, keeping it fresh and clean is time-consuming. That is why many home and business owners choose to outsource the job to a cleaning service.
While hiring a cleaning service has its obvious perks, you may be wondering if those benefits extend to tax season. Are cleaning services tax-deductible?
In this article, we take a look at residential and commercial cleaning services and when they can and cannot be used as a tax deduction.
Table of Contents
Are House Cleaning Services Tax Deductible?
It depends.
House cleaning expenses incurred in a business context, such as cleaning a home office or rental property, can be counted as a write-off.
However, you cannot claim a tax deduction for the costs you incur in hiring a cleaning service or purchasing cleaning supplies if it’s a personal expense, such as for the cleaning of your home.
Whether you’re a busy homeowner who wants to give their home an occasional deep cleaning or a business owner looking for weekly house cleaning services, look no further than the professionals at Tidy Up Portland!
We offer a wide variety of house cleaning services, including:
One-off cleaning services
Regular cleaning services
End-of-lease cleaning
Anti-viral and disinfectant services
Office cleaning services
Additional cleaning services, such as oven cleaning, indoor window cleaning, and laundry services
Contact us today for more information or to book an appointment.
Residential Cleaning Services: Primary Home
House cleaning services are not tax-deductible if they are a personal expense. For example, if you’re a busy mom or senior adult who employs a weekly or monthly cleaning service, the cost of cleaning will not qualify as a write-off.
Cleaning expenses may only be written off if you are self-employed and have a dedicated portion of your home that is primarily used for business — such as a home office, basement or some other part of your house that is used strictly for business.
How Much of the Cost of Cleaning a Home Qualifies for a House Cleaning Service Tax Deduction?
If you work from home, only the portion of your home that is used as dedicated office space will qualify as a house cleaning service tax write-off.
In most cases, your house cleaning service tax deduction will be a percentage of your house cleaning based on square footage.
Residential Cleaning Services: Rental Propertiesb>
If you hire a house cleaning service to maintain a residential rental property, you may legally deduct 100% of the costs you incur to have the property cleaned.
The deduction, however, will not be listed directly on your 1040 tax form. Instead, it will be added to your Schedule E — the same form you use to report your rental income and expenses.
For example, if you rent out a home in downtown Portland as a weekly vacation rental, It will need to be cleaned each week after tenants leave and before new guests arrive. Since the cleaning cost directly relates to the income of your rental property, you can write off all expenses you incur for the weekly cleanings.
How Much of the Cost of Cleaning a Rental Property Qualifies for a Tax Deduction?
In the case of a rental property, 100% of the cost of cleaning may be counted as a tax write-off.
Commercial Cleaning Services: General Business Expenseb>
No matter what type of business you operate, if you rent office space, a storefront, a factory, or a warehouse, cleaning is always considered to be a necessary and ordinary business expense, and therefore, a tax write-off.
How Much of the Cost of Cleaning a Business Qualifies for a Tax Deduction?
As with any cleaning expenses you incur in a business context, the cost of commercial cleaning services for your business is fully deductible on your taxes.
This still holds true even if the cost doesn’t directly relate to the main operations of your business.
For instance, if you operate a natural food store but also rent office space in a different location for health classes, the cost of cleaning that office space is deductible even though it does not directly generate a profit for your natural food business.
Tax Deduction Exception: Cleaning Services Provided by Employees
If your employees are the ones providing cleaning services to your business — for example, if you employ a janitorial staff — you cannot claim their payment as a cleaning tax write-off. This is because you are already claiming 100% of their salaries as a tax deduction.
To qualify as a tax write-off, your cleaning services must be outsourced.
However, if your employees are doing the cleaning, you can claim a write-off for the cost of your cleaning supplies, including things such as:
Vacuums
Air fresheners
Mops
Window cleaners
Floor wax
And more
Keep Your Home or Business Sparkling With Tidy Up Portland!
Does your home need a deep cleaning? Tidy Up Portland! can help.
Do you need a weekly cleaning service for your office? We can do that, too.
We offer both hourly and flat rate services and pricing so you can choose just the right service for your needs.
As Portland’s most trusted cleaning service, you can count on the professional team at Tidy Up Portland! for all your cleaning needs, including:
Easy and convenient online scheduling
No lock-in contracts
Safe and green cleaning products
Thorough recruitment and vetting of our cleaners
Customizable services
The same cleaners coming to your home
Fully insured services
Book an appointment with Tidy Up Portland! today.
