With tax season right around the corner it can be easy to get a little flustered by all the tax rules, new changes, credits and deductions. Things are even more confusing if you're a small business owner. Read below to learn top small business tax deductions you should be taking on your 2009 tax return.

Start-Up Costs
You can deduct the expenses of running your business on your taxes, but nothing can be deducted before your business opens its doors. You can deduct up to $5,000 in start-up and $5,000 in organizational costs for the first year of business. Expenses that are not deducted can be amortized over a 180 month period, which begins the moment you open your business. These expenses include market research, advertising, employee training, business travel and other costs.

Auto Expenses
A lot of business owners will merely take the standard mileage rate deduction, 55 cents per mile for 2009, because it's easier to keep track of your mileage records, but you could actually get a larger deduction if you keep track of everything, including repairs, maintenance, mileage, parking fees and insurance. You can only deduct the business portion of your auto expenses if your car is used for both business and pleasure, so keep track of the mileage accurately.

Education
You can deduct educational expenses on your taxes only if they are related to your current business or occupation. The expense can be deducted if you are furthering your education to maintain or improve skills required for your job-not to get a new job.

Equipment and Furniture
Some businesses can deduct the full cost of their equipment the year they purchased them rather than capitalizing them-meaning to deduct their cost over a number of years. You can deduct up to $250,000 of the cost of new equipment on your 2009 tax return, but some assets don't qualify, such as real estate or property bought from a relative.

Advertising and Promotion
The cost of marketing, including business cards, Yellow Page ads, commercials, etc. is deductible on your 2009 tax return. Promotional costs that create business goodwill, such as sponsoring a little league baseball team, are also deductible as long as there is a definite connection between the sponsorship and your business.

Interest
If you used credit to finance business purchases, the interest on that credit is fully deductible. This also goes for the interest taken on a personal loan. You just need to make sure you conform to the IRS' rules if you borrowed money from a relative or a friend. Also, you must prove that the money borrowed was only used for business.

Travel
With business travelling, you can deduct the cost of your airfare, costs of operating your car, taxis, lodging, meals and more. You must have records for all of these expenses. If you're combining business and pleasure, you can only deduct these expenses if business was the main purpose of your trip. However, you can't deduct the expenses of taking your spouse or your family on your trip.

Entertaining Expenses
The IRS will approve the deduction of up to 50% of entertainment expenses for your business, but you must follow these rules: it must be directly related to the business and business must be discussed (such as a meal catered to the office), or it must be associated with the business and the entertainment occurs directly before or after a business discussion. Make sure when you're keeping records to make note of the business purpose of these entertainment outings.

Professional Fees
Professional and legal fees are deductible, but if the costs are part of your start-up expenses, you may need to amortize the cost over 60 months.

Charitable Contributions
If your business is a partnership or a limited liability company, your business can make a charitable contribution and pass the deduction onto you to claim on your individual tax return. If you own a corporation, the corporation can deduct charitable contributions on the company's taxes.