What the IRS allows
Portfolio, agency commission, go-sees, classes, and a home office are the deductions the IRS allows a freelance model, reported on Schedule C.
Key highlights
Wardrobe and grooming
The two that get denied most, and the reason is the same in both cases.
Self-employment tax at 15.3%
The bill people forget. It is due whether or not anyone withheld anything, and whether or not a client sends you a 1099.
Why it is unusual
An unusual self-employed trade
Modeling is unusual as a self-employed trade. The costs that look most like work costs, the clothes and the appearance, are the ones the IRS disallows most often. The costs that feel like overhead, the ones nobody photographs, are where the deductions are.
01What is allowed
Deductions the IRS allows a freelance model
Ordinary and necessary costs of getting and doing the work — they belong on Schedule C.
Advertising
Portfolio, headshots, comp cards
Photographer fees, prints, retouching, and printing. Promotional materials.
Commissions and fees
Agency commission
Deductible in full. See the gross-booking note below.
Travel
Go-sees, castings, travel to shoots
Business mileage at 72.5¢/mi through Jun 30 2026 and 76¢ from Jul 1, or fares (excluding ordinary commuting), plus lodging. Meals on overnight jobs limited to 50%.
Other expenses
Classes and coaching
Runway, acting, movement, and language training that maintains or improves skills for work you already do.
$5/sq ft, max $1,500
Home office
Regular and exclusive use, principal place of business or client-meeting space. Simplified method: up to 300 sq ft.
Utilities
Phone, internet, subscriptions
The business share, not the whole bill.
Home office + travel together
If your home office qualifies as your principal place of business, trips from there to a casting are business travel rather than commuting, because there is no other regular workplace to commute to.
The gross-booking trap. Agencies usually pay you net, after taking their percentage, but the figure reported to the IRS is often the gross booking. Record only the net and your reported income is too low, and you lose the commission deduction. Book the gross, deduct the commission separately.
02Wardrobe and grooming
Why wardrobe is deductible only when it fails as ordinary clothing
Clothing is deductible only when it fails as ordinary clothing. Three conditions have to hold:
1
Required
Required for the work.
2
Not everyday
Not suitable for everyday wear.
3
Not personal
You do not wear it for general or personal use.
The second condition is where almost every claim fails, because the courts apply it objectively. Whether you wear the item outside work is not the test.
In Pevsner v. Commissioner a boutique manager had to wear designer clothing for work and wore it only for work. The Tax Court allowed the deduction and the Fifth Circuit reversed, because the clothing was adaptable to ordinary wear by a reasonable person. The Second Circuit, which covers New York, applies the same standard.
Applied to modeling
A costume built for a shoot, or protective gear, is deductible. Almost nothing else is.
Where a job needs a specific look, ask the production to buy and retain the wardrobe rather than reimbursing you for clothes you keep. Negotiate it at booking, not in April.
Grooming and gym costs are personal expenses
Haircuts, manicures, skin care, teeth whitening, and gym membership are personal expenses even when your work depends on them. The Tax Court has said so repeatedly, including for a television anchor whose appearance was contractually required.
The narrow exception is stage makeup required for a specific job, bought by you, and used only for that performance.
03The tax people forget
Self-employment tax at 15.3% and four estimated payments
Rate
15.3%
on 92.35% of net profit
Kicks in at
$400
of net earnings — most people
Recovery
½
deductible against income tax
US clients generally do not withhold tax from a freelance booking, except when backup withholding applies, so you owe two things instead of one.
Four due dates
Apr
Jun
Sep
Jan
Paying any one of these avoids an underpayment penalty:
- • 90% of this year’s tax
- • 100% of last year’s tax
- • 110% of last year’s, if you are a higher earner
041099 change from 2026
Why clients paying under $2,000 stop sending a 1099 from 2026
Before 2026
$600+
threshold — form was routine
→
From 2026 (payments after year-end 2025)
$2,000+
Form 1099-NEC, box 1a
For a model booking short jobs across many clients, that can mean almost no 1099s at all. The income has not changed status — your own records become the only record of it.
05Shoots outside the US
Income from shoots outside the US
A US person pays US tax on worldwide income, so a job in Milan belongs on the same return as a job in Manhattan.
Qualifying foreign income tax may be creditable against your US tax, which reduces double taxation. It requires the foreign amounts and payment dates documented in the currency they were paid in.
The mechanics differ by who pays you.
A US client
Reports what it paid you on a Form 1099-NEC, above the threshold.
A foreign client
May have no US reporting duty at all — do not expect a form — and it may have withheld tax at a rate set by treaty or local law before the money reached you.
Neither takes the income off your return, and the foreign one puts the burden of proving the credit on your own records. Working across several states raises a smaller version of the same question, since a shoot can create a filing obligation in a state you visited for two days.
06Hobby vs business
The hobby loss rule and the three-of-five year test
The penalty is total
The IRS disallows every deduction at once, rather than line by line, when it classifies the activity as a hobby. The income stays taxable while the expenses are not deductible at all.
Three profitable years out of five under Section 183 shifts the presumption in your favor. Short of that, the answer depends on how you operate.
What helps is unglamorous
- A separate bank account.
- Contemporaneous records.
- A written approach to pricing and marketing.
- Evidence you changed something after a loss year.
What hurts is a long run of losses alongside another income source that the losses reduce.
07Worked example
A worked Schedule C on $84,000 of bookings
| Schedule C, one year | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross receipts | $84,000 |
| Advertising: portfolio, headshots, comp cards | ($2,400) |
| Commissions and fees: agency commission at 20% | ($16,800) |
| Legal and professional services | ($700) |
| Travel to go-sees and shoots | ($3,100) |
| Utilities: phone and internet, business share | ($900) |
| Other expenses: classes and coaching | ($1,200) |
| Tentative profit | $58,900 |
| Home office, 120 sq ft simplified | ($600) |
| Net profit | $58,300 |
Dollars, rounded. Self-employment tax is not a Schedule C item and is calculated separately. Illustrative; every return turns on its own facts.
$84,000
gross bookings
$58,300
net profit after Schedule C
$8,240
self-employment tax on that profit
$50,060
left after self-employment tax
Self-employment tax on that profit is about $8,240. Half of it, $4,120, is deductible against income tax, which brings the starting figure for income tax down to $54,180 before the standard deduction and any qualified business income deduction. Someone who set aside nothing across the year owes a five-figure sum in April.
08FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can a model deduct clothing bought for a shoot?
Only if it fails as ordinary clothing. The item has to be required for the work, unsuitable for everyday wear judged objectively, and not worn for personal use. A costume built for a shoot or protective gear qualifies. Designer clothing does not, even if you never wear it outside work and even if the job required it.
Are haircuts, makeup, and gym membership deductible for a model?
No. These are personal expenses even where your work depends on your appearance, and the Tax Court has said so repeatedly. The narrow exception is stage makeup bought by you for a specific job and used only for that performance.
Do I still report income if no client sends me a 1099?
Yes. From 2026 the reporting threshold is $2,000, so clients paying you less than that may send nothing. That changes who reports the payment, not whether it is taxable. The income is reportable either way, and your own records become the only record of it.
How much should a freelance model set aside for tax?
Self-employment tax alone runs at 15.3 percent on 92.35 percent of net profit, before any income tax. On an illustrative $58,300 of net profit that is about $8,240. Income tax is charged on top of that at your own rate, so a set aside covering only self-employment tax will not be enough.
When does the IRS treat modeling as a hobby?
When it is run without a genuine profit motive. Three profitable years out of five shifts the presumption your way. Short of that it depends on how you operate, and on whether you can show it. If it is a hobby, the income stays taxable and the expenses are not deductible.
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Reviewed by George Dimov, CPA, New York, NY. Serving clients in all 50 states, 15+ years advising self-employed creatives on Schedule C deductions and estimated tax. President of George Dimov, CPA, a New York City firm serving clients across the five boroughs and nationwide.