17+ Gym Owner Tax Deductions | Sweat Equity

Today we learn all about common tax deductions for fitness businesses, along with a big list of gym owner tax deductions (and some bonus personal trainer tax deductions) that will help you with your gym tax planning, hopefully saving you save money as a gym owner (while providing some pretty amazing gym software – ahem) and loading up on gym tax deduction tips. And, who says gym owner tax planning can’t also be fun? Ok, well maybe not fun exactly, but read on for specific fitness business tax deductions with just a touch of humor. (We have tax deduction memes?)

Welcome, this is Sweat Equity from Exercise.com, where we cover everything about the business of fitness. We’re like Rich Froning meets Richard Branson.

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Let’s get into it…

• 💰 Gym Owner Tax Deductions: 17 Common Tax Deductions for Fitness Businesses
• 📸 Fitness Meme of the Month
• 💪 Book Recommendation – First: What It Takes to Win by Rich Froning

Estimated read time: 4 minutes & 18 seconds

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Gym Owner Tax Deductions: 17 Common Tax Deductions for Fitness Businesses

Gym owner tax planning guide full of hot and fresh tax deductions you can use today.

Are you taking all of the gym owner tax deductions you are able to take? As a fitness business owner, you spend the year running your business so that it not only generates sales (revenue) but that after all of the expenses are paid then there is a healthy amount of profit left over. (Read More: How profitable is owning a gym?)

Ah yes, profit.

Well, not so fast. If you are an American tax payer, then as is true in most countries, the government will have something to say about how those profits are divided up. So, how is it divided up? 

The short answer: they want some.

And maybe more than you think.

So, what can you do?

Taking all of the tax deductions that you are lawfully entitled to is one way to reduce the amount of taxable income that you have, ultimately resulting in less tax you will owe as a fitness business owner. 

Here is a list of 17 fitness business owner tax deductions, ranging from common to creative, general to specific. 

1. Marketing, Advertising, & Promotion – FB ads? Yep. Flyers? Yes. Billboards? Absolutely.
2. Insurance – Health, Business, Dental, Worker’s Comp, etc.
3. Business Meals & Entertainment – Team dinners, employee CEU lunch and learns, and more
4. Bank Interest & Bank Fees – Don’t forget about these.
5. Business Use of Car – Drive time to teach an outdoor boot camp? Yes. Family vacation to Disney World. Not so much. 
6. Contract Labor – 1099 expenses. Don’t forget to track them.
7. Depreciation – Rely on a good CPA to help you depreciate things like fitness equipment.
8. Legal & Professional Fees – Those same CPA fees, attorney fees, etc.
9. Moving Expenses – Easy to forget about this one.
10. Rent – This can be a big one.
11. Salaries & Benefits – Your gym labor costs will be a big expense and include employee wages and all benefits.
12. Telephone & Internet Expenses – Be sure to include.
13. Travel Expenses – Some of these might qualify.
14. Fitness Equipment, Workout Gear, & Facility Improvements – Definitely deductible!
15. Workout Music, Exercise Videos, A/V Equipment – Absolutely deductible.
16. Fitness Education – Write off CEU credits for yourself and your team.
17. Software Expenses – Come on, you know we are going to mention this one, right? Get an annual Exercise.com subscription and deduct it!

Bonus: You can write off all payment processing expenses, email marketing expenses, and more. Of course, we make it easy to handle all of the above so you can concentrate on scaling your fitness business, not hassling with infrastructure. See why we offer the best gym software. You can sell workout plans, or offer fitness challenges, or deliver online training to your community, and so much more.

If you want help from one of our fitness business consultants book a demo and mention “Sweat Equity” to get a free month when you sign up for a year. 

Read More: Gym Owner Guide

Bonus: Personal Trainer Tax Deductions

What kind of tax deductions can personal trainers claim? Much the same as the gym owner tax deductions list above. You can deduct marketing, insurance, equipment, travel, fitness equipment, workout music, and all of the above.

In addition, you can deduct your personal trainer certifications fees, your personal training continuing education courses cost, personal trainer conference expenses, workout gear for your personal training sessions, and really anything you use in the normal course of operation as a personal trainer.

In order to maximize tax deductions as a personal trainer be sure to keep accurate records. All of your self-employed personal trainer expenses can likely be deducted if you just keep track of them first! As a fitness trainer, you can expense many items on your tax return so keep accurate records, stay organized, and work with a qualified tax planning professional.

Fitness Meme of the Month

Because… your smiling muscles need exercise too 😆

Dig it? Hate it? Think you can do better? Contact us your favorite fitness meme for a chance to be featured.

Book Recommendation – First: What It Takes to Win

Only the best fitness and business of fitness book recommendations. Send us yours…

First: What It Takes to Win by Rich Froning

Rich is a champ in more ways than one. 

Character.

Resilience.

Legendary endurance.

Now taking it to the next level with Mayhem Nation.

And, of course, a CrossFit win record that puts him firmly in GOAT status.

Check it out, and then send us your book recommendations to be featured in a future issue.

And…

Need help growing your fitness business?

We are here for YOU and YOUR business. 

And if you still need to sign up, upgrade, or check out all the new functionality, then just book a demo and mention “Sweat Equity” to get a free month when you sign up for a year.