This week, I was on a mission to find new wedding shoes. The souls peeled off the front of one of my pairs from last year, and the other was starting to rip down the side.

I put them to good use.

I figured that probably wouldn’t be the best look on a wedding day…

As a professional wedding photographer.

So with gift card in hand, I headed to the wonderful world of DSW. Or as Joel likes to call it “Don’t Skimp your Walk”! (That was him trying to figure out the acronym, haha).

As Adalynn crawled up and down the aisles being the best unpaid employee and pushing in all the boxes of shoes, I came across my perfect match.

Well, at least a pair that was comfy, easy to slip on, and not crazy expensive.

We were good-to-go. As the price rang up, my gift card sadly didn’t cover the total completely. So I opened up my wallet to cover the rest of it.

Business or personal?

A red flag popped up in my brain, since these are not a required uniform I have to wear, they can’t be used as a tax write-off.

Out came the personal card to cover the rest of the amount.

Since these specific shoes are not an ordinary and necessary business expense, I can’t use them as a deduction in my tax return. This week on my YouTube channel, I am breaking down what the IRS considers an ordinary and necessary business expense. Head to the link below to make sure you are deducting the correct business expenses on your taxes.

XOXO ~ Heather Marie

Other helpful tips for photographers:

What are Business Travel Expenses?

Two Ways to Calculate Vehicle Expenses