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Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 What's New for 2018 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 What's New for 2019 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Chapter 1. Deducting Business Expenses . . . . . . . . . . 3 Chapter 2. Employees' Pay . . . . . . . . 8 Chapter 3. Rent Expense . . . . . . . . 10 Chapter 4. Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Chapter 5. Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Chapter 6. Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Chapter 7. Costs You Can Deduct or Capitalize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Chapter 8. Amortization . . . . . . . . . 28 Chapter 9. Depletion . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Chapter 10. Business Bad Debts . . . . 40 Chapter 11. Other Expenses . . . . . . 42 Chapter 12. Qualified Business Income Deduction . . . . . . . . . . 49 Chapter 13. How To Get Tax Help . . . 58 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Introduction This publication discusses common business expenses and explains what is and is not de- ductible. The general rules for deducting busi- ness expenses are discussed in the opening chapter. The chapters that follow cover specific expenses and list other publications and forms you may need. Note. Section references within this publica- tion are to the Internal Revenue Code and regu- lation references are to the Income Tax Regula- tions under the Code. Comments and suggestions. We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future editions. You can send us comments from IRS.gov/ FormComments. Or you can write to: Internal Revenue Service Tax Forms and Publications 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526 Washington, DC 20224 Although we cannot respond individually to each comment received, we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our tax forms, instructions, and publi- cations. Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Publication 535 Cat. No. 15065Z Business Expenses For use in preparing 2018 Returns Get forms and other information faster and easier at: • IRS.gov (English) • IRS.gov/Spanish (Español) • IRS.gov/Chinese (中文) • IRS.gov/Korean (한국어) • IRS.gov/Russian (Pусский) • IRS.gov/Vietnamese (TiếngViệt) Jul 24, 2019