Business Utilities Are Tax Deductible on Schedule C Line 25
Schedule C is the tax form you fill out for your business. You put the electric, gas, water, trash, and phone bills for your business on line 25, which the form calls "Utilities." You write off the full cost for a shop or an office. For a phone you also use at home, you write off the business share.
What goes on line 25, "Utilities"
- Electric and natural gas bills for your shop or office
- Water, sewer, and trash pickup for your business space
- Your business phone bill, or the business share of your cell phone bill
- A second phone line at home that you use for business
What goes on a different line
- Utilities for your home office Line 30, home office
- Rent for your shop or office Line 20b, Rent or lease
- Zoom and other software subscriptions Other expenses list
The "Other expenses" list is near the bottom of page 2 of Schedule C. Its total goes on line 27b.
What you can't write off
- The basic monthly charge for the first phone line into your home
- The personal share of your cell phone bill
Updated by Doug, owner of Shoeboxed. Rules from the IRS Schedule C instructions.
Costs that go on a different line
Utilities for your home office go on line 30
Electric, gas, and water for your home are personal, except for a home office. Your tax preparer can figure a home office two ways:
- The long way, on IRS Form 8829, adds up your real home bills. If your office takes up 10% of your home, 10% of your utilities goes on line 30.
- The simple way lets you write off $5 for each square foot of office. The $5 already includes your utilities, so you don't add them.
See what your home office is worth with our home office deduction calculator.
Rent for your shop or office goes on line 20b
Rent for space your business uses goes on line 20b, "Rent or lease, other business property." The electric and water bills you pay for that space go on line 25. See where rent goes on Schedule C.
Zoom and other software subscriptions go under Other expenses
Zoom, a website plan, and other software you pay for by the month or year go on the "Other expenses" list, on page 2 of Schedule C.
The basic monthly charge for the first phone line into your home is not a write-off
If you use your home landline for business, the IRS says you can't write off the basic monthly charge, or its taxes, for the first phone line into your home. You can write off extra business charges on that line, like business long-distance calls. If you have a second line, you can write off the business share of its whole bill.
The personal share of your cell phone bill is not a write-off
If you use one cell phone for work and home, write off only the business share of the bill. Keep a note of how you figured the share.
Run your business from a shop or office? Write off its utilities in full
When a space is only for your business, its utilities go on line 25 at full cost. That includes the electric, gas, water, sewer, and trash bills for a shop, an office, a studio, or a warehouse.
A phone line or cell phone just for your business goes on line 25 at full cost too.
Where 5 common utility bills go on Schedule C
Say you run a small bakery in a rented shop, and you have no home office. Here are five bills from one year. The amounts are an example.
| The bill | Cost | Where it goes on Schedule C |
|---|---|---|
| Electric bill for the shop | $3,600 | Line 25, Utilities |
| Water and trash pickup for the shop | $900 | Line 25, Utilities |
| Your cell phone, used 60% for the bakery | $1,200 | Line 25 gets $720 |
| Rent for the shop | $18,000 | Line 20b, Rent or lease, other business property |
| Electric bill at home | $1,800 | Not a write-off (you have no home office) |
Line 25 gets $5,220, which is $3,600 for the electric bill, $900 for water and trash, and $720 for the business share of the phone. The shop's rent goes on line 20b.
Split an AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile bill when the phone is also for home
191 Shoeboxed customers had an AT&T bill from November 2025 to October 2026, and 190 had a Verizon bill. A typical AT&T bill came to $156, and a typical Verizon bill to $196. If the phone is only for your business, the whole bill goes on line 25. If it is also your personal phone, write off only the business share.
260 customers had a bill from an electric or gas company, more than any other kind of company. 244 had a city or town utility bill.
Shoeboxed utility and phone receipts, November 2025 to October 2026
17,610
utility and phone receipts
1,397
Shoeboxed customers who saved them
$130
for a typical receipt. Half cost more, and half cost less.
A typical utility or phone bill, by company
A typical bill at these companies runs $105 to $196.
- Verizon $196
- AT&T $156
- Trash pickup companies $154
- T-Mobile $142
- Electric and gas companies $141
- City and town utilities $105
The utility and phone companies with the most Shoeboxed customers
| Company | Customers | Receipts | Typical receipt | Half of receipts cost between |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric and gas companies | 260 | 2,680 | $141 | $61 and $344 |
| City and town utilities | 244 | 1,215 | $105 | $49 and $302 |
| AT&T | 191 | 1,109 | $156 | $96 and $275 |
| Verizon | 190 | 1,026 | $196 | $101 and $338 |
| T-Mobile | 92 | 370 | $142 | $67 and $246 |
| Trash pickup companies | 55 | 236 | $154 | $90 and $335 |
Shoeboxed counted the receipts customers uploaded from November 1, 2025, to October 31, 2026, in their "Utilities" and "Telecommunications" categories in Shoeboxed. Telecommunications means phone service. We matched each company by the name on the receipt, and grouped electric and gas companies, city and town bills, and trash pickup companies. Some receipts showed no total, so the dollar amounts leave those out.
Keep each utility bill for 3 years after you file
The IRS wants a record of each write-off, and in most cases you keep it for 3 years after you file. Utility bills come every month, so that is 12 bills a year from each company.
Forward each one that comes by email to Shoeboxed, and snap the paper ones with the Shoeboxed app. Our software reads the company, the date, and the total, and we keep each bill for as long as you have an account. When tax time comes, export the list or invite your bookkeeper or tax preparer in to see it.
Every Shoeboxed plan comes with a 30-day, 100% money-back guarantee. See the plans.
5 common questions about utilities on Schedule C
Yes. Line 25, "Utilities," is for the electric, gas, water, trash, and phone bills of your shop, office, or other business space. You write off the full cost. For one phone you use for work and home, write off the business share. Utilities for your home go with a home office on line 30.
Keep every receipt for your business in one place with Shoeboxed
Snap them with the app, forward the ones that come by email, or mail the paper ones to us in a Magic Envelope, and we scan them. We keep them all, ready for your accountant.
See how Shoeboxed keeps your receipts