Tax Tips for Photographers: Deductions, Mileage, and Year-Round Prep (with Heather Lacey)
The Portrait System Podcast
Sue Bryce Education
4.9 • 662 Ratings
🗓️ 24 February 2026
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Taxes don’t have to be the thing you avoid until April. In this episode of The Portrait System, Nikki sits down with Heather Leicy (tax prep educator + bookkeeper + working photographer) to break down photographer tax deductions, year-round tax prep, and the biggest “can I write this off?” mistakes.
You’ll learn:
- What to do monthly so you’re not scrambling at tax time
- A simple system for setting aside 20–30% for taxes
- Common photographer deductions: education, software, gear, website costs, client gifts
- The truth about meals/coffee write-offs (when it counts, when it doesn’t)
- Home office deduction basics and “dedicated space” rules
- Why mileage tracking is one of the most missed deductions (and the app Heather recommends)
- A simple breakdown of LLC vs S-corp taxation and why it’s a math decision
- Why sales tax rules vary so much by state (digital vs physical vs services)
Important: This episode is for educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Tax laws vary by location and change over time. Always consult a qualified CPA/tax professional about your specific situation.
Find Heather
- Instagram: @heather.marie.Leicy
- Community: Conquer Community – theconquercommunity.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there, it's Nikki Klosser, and I want to let you know about an awesome free giveaway for people on our email list. |
| 0:21.8 | If you haven't already, click the link in our podcast description or go to the PortraitSystem.com slash sign up to get on the list. If you sign up, you'll get a free posing 101 PDF to jumpstart things. It's an epic PDF, so you'll definitely want to get this. Also, just by being in our email community, |
| 0:26.0 | you'll get deals, sales, and information about any of our upcoming events and activities. |
| 0:31.1 | So head over to the portrait system.com slash sign up and sign up today. |
| 0:38.8 | You're listening to The Portrait System podcast. Look at your numbers monthly instead of waiting until the end of the year. |
| 0:44.4 | If you're waiting until February or March to make any decisions, you're too late because the year is already done. You cannot affect anything. Welcome to the Portrait System podcast. |
| 0:52.1 | I'm your host, Nikki Klosser, and this show is here to help you succeed in the world of photography and business to help you learn to become financially free doing what you love and so much more. |
| 1:01.8 | With over one million downloads, countless photographers have taken what they've learned from both our episodes and from the PortressSystem.com, and they have grown their businesses, quit their day jobs, |
| 1:11.5 | and are designing a life of their dreams. We keep it real and share stories about the ups and downs |
| 1:16.8 | that come with running a photography business. You'll hear real life stories of how other |
| 1:21.3 | photographers run their business, and you'll learn actionable steps that you can take to reach |
| 1:25.6 | your own goals. Thank you so much for being here and let's |
| 1:28.7 | get started. Hi everyone, I'm Nikki Klosser and on the portrait system today, we're talking about |
| 1:34.0 | that one thing that so many people avoid, but we all have to deal with. And that is taxes. |
| 1:41.9 | But Heather Licey is here with me today and she breaks things down so it's so easy to |
| 1:47.3 | understand. She talks about what you can deduct, what you definitely shouldn't, and how to |
| 1:52.4 | legally reduce your tax burden. She also tells us about the things we need to do to prep all |
| 1:59.0 | year round. So when April comes, we are not stressing out about |
| 2:04.3 | our tax return. So if you want to keep more of the money you're making instead of giving it to |
| 2:09.5 | the taxman and doing it the right way, this is the episode for you. Okay, let's get started with |
| 2:15.3 | Heather Lacey. Hi, Heather. Welcome to the Portrait |
| 2:19.3 | System. How you doing? Good. I'm excited to be here. Yeah, me too. You know, when your |
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