Can I Write Off My Haircuts as a Business Expense?

The General Rule for Personal Expenses

Tax deductions allow individuals and businesses to reduce their taxable income by subtracting certain expenses. While many business-related costs can lower a tax burden, personal grooming expenses, such as haircuts, do not qualify for such a reduction. These costs are generally viewed as personal living expenses, which are not deductible under tax law.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) maintains a clear distinction between personal expenses and those incurred for business purposes. Personal expenses are those that an individual would incur regardless of their employment or business activities. Since maintaining a personal appearance, including getting haircuts, is a personal expense, it remains non-deductible even if it contributes to a professional image.

Specific Scenarios for Deductibility

Under extremely limited circumstances, a haircut might be considered a deductible business expense, but this is rare and subject to stringent IRS scrutiny. For an expense to be deductible, it must be both “ordinary and necessary” for the trade or business. An ordinary expense is common and accepted in the industry, while a necessary expense is helpful and appropriate for the business.

Furthermore, the expense must be directly related to the taxpayer’s trade or business and have no significant personal use or benefit. For a haircut to meet this criterion, it would need to be an unusual and specific style required solely for a particular job or role, serving as a costume or prop, rather than for general personal grooming. An example might involve an actor or model who must adopt a very specific, unconventional hairstyle for a role, which has no practical personal utility outside of that specific performance. Simply looking “professional” for work does not transform a typical haircut into a deductible business expense.

Record Keeping Requirements

Should a haircut somehow meet the extremely narrow criteria for deductibility, meticulous record-keeping is absolutely essential. Taxpayers must retain documentation such as receipts or invoices detailing the service provided and the amount paid. This documentation serves as proof of the expense incurred.

Beyond a mere receipt, taxpayers would need to provide a clear, detailed explanation of the business purpose for the haircut. This explanation must convincingly demonstrate how the haircut was an ordinary and necessary expense directly tied to their trade or business, and crucially, how it lacked any significant personal benefit. Without such robust evidence, the IRS would likely disallow the deduction, viewing it as a non-deductible personal expense.

Broader Tax Implications

If a haircut were genuinely deductible under the rare circumstances described, a self-employed individual would typically report such an expense on Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, when filing their federal income tax return. This form is used by sole proprietors to detail their business income and expenses.

For employees, the landscape for deducting non-reimbursed business expenses significantly changed with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Under current tax law, most employees can no longer deduct unreimbursed employee business expenses, which previously included certain job-related costs. This change further reinforces the high burden of proof required by the IRS for any expense that appears to be personal in nature, making the deduction of a haircut for an employee virtually impossible.