What counts as a deduction on the road
Coworking, coffee, flights, coliving — where the line usually sits, and where auditors get twitchy.
Nomad life blurs the line between "work expense" and "life expense" harder than any other work style. A coffee is fuel, an office, and a lunch break. A flight is transport, a research trip, and a holiday.
Tax authorities everywhere have the same instinct: if it looks like life, it's life. Here's where the line usually sits and where we see people get themselves into trouble.
The core principle
Almost every tax system uses some version of the same test: an expense is deductible when it is necessary and ordinary for producing your business income, and not primarily personal.
Two words carry the weight: primarily personal. If a reasonable auditor would say most of the benefit was to you as a person, not to your business, it's not deductible. This is the frame to run every expense through.
The usually-safe list
These deduct cleanly in most jurisdictions if you have documentation:
- Coworking memberships — the closest thing a nomad has to a "real office."
- Software subscriptions — Notion, Figma, Adobe, hosting, email, accounting, VPN.
- Professional development — courses, books, industry memberships, conferences.
- Client-facing travel — flights and lodging for a specific meeting or delivery.
- Business insurance and professional fees — legal, accounting, coaching.
- Hardware for work — laptop, monitor, keyboard, camera, mic.
The it-depends list
Coffee, cafés, lunches
A latte you drink while working is not automatically a deduction. Meals with clients often are (usually at 50%). "I worked from this café" is a losing argument in most jurisdictions.
Long-haul flights and general travel
A flight primarily to change your base is a personal move. A flight primarily to meet a client or run a workshop is business. The word "primarily" is where the whole thing lives. Book flights around business events and document the business reason.
Coliving
Coliving is housing. Housing is personal in almost every tax system. There are narrow exceptions — a corporate retreat, a working trip attached to a specific project, a legitimate home-office allowance in some countries — but the default is: your rent is not a business expense.
Coworking-plus-coliving bundled
If a coliving space bills you separately for the coworking portion, that portion is often deductible. If it's one line item on one invoice, most auditors will treat the whole thing as personal accommodation.
Phone and internet
Usually deductible in proportion to business use. Pick a defensible percentage (say, 70%) and use it consistently. Wild swings between years attract attention.
The almost-never list
- Clothes, unless they're genuine uniform or safety gear specific to your work.
- Gym memberships and wellness outside a very narrow set of jurisdictions.
- "Content creator" purchases that happen to also be things you'd buy anyway.
- Family travel wrapped around a business trip. Your portion may deduct; theirs doesn't.
What auditors actually look for
Round numbers
Real receipts are rarely round. A folder full of $50, $100, and $200 "expenses" with no receipts is the fastest way to lose a deduction on review.
Personal frequency
If you eat at the same café five times a week and deduct all five as "client meetings," you don't have five client meetings — you have a routine.
Missing documentation
In most jurisdictions the burden is on you to prove the deduction is valid, not on them to prove it isn't. No receipt, no diary note, no meeting evidence — no deduction.
Personal-to-business ratio
A freelancer earning $80k with $60k of deductions is going to get read carefully. High ratios aren't illegal — they just invite a closer look.
The lightweight system
You do not need accounting software gymnastics. You need three habits:
- Every business expense goes on one card. One card, no exceptions.
- Every receipt gets photographed the day it's issued and dropped in one folder.
- Every quarter, spend one hour categorizing.
Do that and your deductions will hold up under any reasonable review, in any reasonable jurisdiction.
The takeaway
The deduction rules are less mysterious than they feel — the trap isn't ambiguity, it's laziness. Keep expenses clearly separated, document the business purpose, and stop trying to deduct your life.
Educational coaching — not licensed legal, tax, or financial advice. Always confirm with a licensed professional in your jurisdiction.
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