If you own a home based business, or even a small business, here is a list of some of the small business tax write offs you should be aware of. The tax laws are setup in such a way as to help you with starting a business. So we should make sure we are writing off everything we are entitled to.

1. Home Office: This constitutes a room, where your office equipment is located, which only has one entrance and exit. The rule of thumb is you should be able to shut a door, and not need to go I there except to work in the office. The way the deduction works, is take the square footage of the office, and divide by the square footage of the house. This gives you are percentage, like 15%. Then you can take 15% from the mortgage (or rent), home owners insurance, electric, gas, water, and trash bills, and write this off to the business.
2. Business supplies: This can include computers, laptops, PDA’s, printers, office supplies, business cards, stamps, postage, and anything basically used to maintain the office.
3. Internet connection: You will need, or have , one of these already. This is a legal business write off, so make use of it. I would personally upgrade to cable internet if you have not done so already.
4. Business phone: In this scenario, you must have a 2nd line in order to deduct it. I would also recommend going with VOIP service. For a fee of less than $30 per month, you can have everything unlimited.
5. Meals and Entertainment: If you go out to eat, or for a coffee, and discuss the business, you can write this off. Just write on the top of the receipt who the meeting was with, and keep the receipt.
6. Mileage: Driving anywhere for a business purpose allows you to write off the miles it took you to get from point A to point B, and back. Get a mileage book to help keep track of this.
7. Coffees and Sodas: If you would normally buy and drink these at an office, you can also deduct the same things even if you are at home. Just save the receipts.

There is a brief list of deductions you can take towards your business. Just remember, the tax laws are written in our favor, so make use of these small business tax write offs.