How far can a side-business influencer deduct expenses? Are cooking and travel deductible?
"I run a cooking account, so all my groceries are expenses." "Sharing my travels is my work, so travel costs are expenses." These are ways of thinking that employees doing content creation as a side job often fall into, but they are a field where filing that way carries a high risk of being denied. Spending that blends seamlessly with your hobbies and daily life is scrutinized most strictly for tax purposes. Using cooking and travel as examples, this article organizes the line between the deductible and non-deductible portions, the rule that products you receive also count as income, and the pitfalls of "cutting taxes with a side-business loss," based on primary information from the National Tax Agency.
・What you can deduct is only "the portion directly necessary to earn income." The part mixed with living costs can be deducted by apportionment only when it can be clearly separated
・Neither cooking groceries nor travel costs will pass as "fully deductible." Records tied to your posts and sponsored projects are the lifeline
・Even if your side business runs at a loss, a miscellaneous-income loss cannot be offset against salary (aggregation of profit and loss)
Side-business content income is, in principle, "miscellaneous income"
Ad revenue, affiliate income, fees from corporate sponsorships, tips, and the like — content-related income that an employee earns as a side job is, in principle, miscellaneous income (miscellaneous income from business activities). The 2022 revision of the directive clarified the dividing line, and if you keep and retain books there is room to treat it as business income even with revenue of ¥3 million or less; but without books it is, in principle, treated as miscellaneous income[NTA directive revision (in Japanese)]. Even with books, if revenue is extremely small or there is no profit-seeking nature, it is judged case by case.
An employee who has had a year-end adjustment does not need to file an income tax return if their income (revenue minus expenses) other than salary is ¥200,000 or less for the year[NTA No.1900 (in Japanese)]. However, this is an income tax rule, and there is no ¥200,000 rule for residence tax. If you do not file a tax return, a residence tax declaration to your municipality is required. In a year when you file a tax return for the medical expense deduction or Furusato Nozei, you must include side-business income of ¥200,000 or less in that filing too. For details, see the Guide to filing for side jobs.
The basic principle of expenses: the three categories of "living costs" and "work costs"
Whether something can be deducted is fundamentally considered by dividing the spending into the following three types. Necessary expenses for miscellaneous income are limited to "costs directly required to earn income"[NTA No.1500 (in Japanese)].
| Category | Content | Deductible? |
|---|---|---|
| Household expenses | Pure living costs (family meals, private trips and shopping) | No |
| Household-related expenses | Spending where life and work are mixed (groceries, communication costs, equipment, etc.) | Only the portion needed for business, and only when it can be clearly separated |
| Necessary expenses | Spending directly needed to earn income (equipment used only for shooting, travel for a sponsored project, etc.) | Yes |
Most of an influencer side-business's spending falls into the middle category, household-related expenses. That is exactly why records that can explain "which post or which project the spending was for" (the basis for apportionment) become important[NTA No.2210 (in Japanese)].
Case 1: cooking Instagrammer — groceries only for "the portion used in shooting"
"I post my daily cooking, so my daily groceries are expenses" — this does not pass. That is because the moment the dish you made is eaten by your family, those groceries take on a strong mix of the character of living costs (household expenses).
| Spending | Guide to the judgment |
|---|---|
| Groceries bought specifically for a post or recipe development (including trial batches) | Easily deductible (records tied to the post are a prerequisite) |
| Tableware for shooting, plating props, backdrop cloth, lighting, tripod | Easily deductible |
| Recipe books and cooking classes directly connected to your content theme | Apportioned or depends on the actual situation |
| The family's everyday meals / the portion eaten as dinner right after shooting | Not deductible (household expenses) |
| The full cost of a kitchen renovation | Not deductible (unless there is a clear separation such as a space dedicated to shooting) |
Of ¥50,000 in monthly grocery costs, ¥15,000 was purchased and used specifically for 12 posts (marked on the receipts and recorded against the posts) → the deductible amount is capped at this ¥15,000. The remaining ¥35,000 is the family's meals = household expenses. Rather than a rough "some percentage of grocery costs," the principle is to identify the business portion for each item of spending.
Case 2: travel influencer — travel is scrutinized most strictly
Travel is a pleasure for everyone = the spending with the strongest character of household expenses. Even if you claim "a trip for content," as long as sightseeing and leisure elements are mixed in, full deduction will almost never be recognized. The cases where deductibility is more easily recognized are the following.
- A trip taken as a corporate sponsorship or tie-up, that corresponds to a fee or contract
- Most of the itinerary is devoted to reporting, shooting, and editing, and it is actually published as content and linked to revenue
- You have not included the share of family or friends who come along (a companion's share is, in principle, not deductible)
Booking several hundred thousand yen of travel costs against a few tens of thousands of yen in annual ad revenue to create a loss — this is a classic example seen as "reclassifying a hobby trip." If you cannot explain the balance of revenue and expenses, the content you published, and the correspondence with a sponsored project, the safe course is to refrain from booking the expense. For spending you are unsure about, the way of thinking in 10 gray-area items on whether something is deductible is also a useful reference.
The way of thinking is the same for other genres
| Genre | Easily deductible | Difficult |
|---|---|---|
| Fashion / beauty | Costumes and props used only for shooting and not for private use | Clothes you also wear normally, cosmetics, beauty treatments (inseparable from private use) |
| Game streaming | Game software you streamed, streaming equipment | Private games you did not stream, in-game purchases |
| Gadget reviews | Equipment bought for a review (if you also use it privately after the review, apportion) | Personal items unrelated to a review |
| Common | Editing software, server fees, travel for shooting, meeting costs | The full cost of your phone bill or home rent (only the apportioned business portion) |
The two common axes of judgment are "can you explain that without this spending there would have been no such post or income?" and "can it be clearly separated from private use?"
Beware "getting tax back with a side-business loss": a miscellaneous-income loss cannot be offset against salary
You may see claims that piling up expenses to put your side business into the red gets your salary tax back — but a miscellaneous-income loss cannot be aggregated with other income[NTA No.2250 (in Japanese)]. The loss is simply cut off in that year.
A tax-saving scheme in the form of "if you file as business income you can aggregate the profit and loss" is also judged by the actual situation — including profit-seeking nature, continuity, and revenue scale, not just whether you keep books — and if the reality is a hobby it will be denied. If you are solicited into this form for your employee side business, treat it as a classic "too-good-to-be-true story" as explained in Verifying tax-saving scheme products, and judge carefully.
Receiving "provision" of products or services is also income
If, in a corporate sponsorship, you receive products or services instead of a cash fee, that is an economic benefit = income. You record the amount equivalent to the market price (fair market value) as income. For example, if you receive an appliance with a market price of ¥30,000 and make a review post, it is treated the same as having ¥30,000 of income. An invitation trip is thought of the same way. Note that "no filing is needed because I did not receive money" is not correct. Keep the offer emails and contract terms at the time of provision.
In practice, just cover these three points
① Records: tie spending to posts and projects (note the post's date or project name on receipts, keep the project's correspondence). Keeping books also opens the path to business income (blue return)
② Filing: file a tax return once your side-business income (revenue minus expenses) exceeds ¥200,000. Even at ¥200,000 or less, a residence tax declaration is required
③ Residence tax: if, when filing your tax return, you set the residence tax on the side-business portion to "pay it yourself (ordinary collection)," the side-business portion is less likely to appear in the notice sent via your employer. Also check your employer's work rules (whether side jobs are allowed)
Summary
FAQ
Can I deduct all the ingredient costs for dishes I made for my cooking account?
No. Only the portion purchased and used specifically for shooting or recipe development is eligible for deduction; the everyday meals eaten by your family are living costs (household expenses). The prerequisite is to tie receipts to posts and be able to explain the portion used for business.
If I do travel-related content, are my travel costs deductible?
Full deduction will almost never be recognized. Deductibility of the business portion is more easily recognized when it corresponds to a corporate sponsorship or revenue, most of the itinerary is reporting and shooting, and it is actually published as content. In principle, the share of family or friends who come along is not deductible.
Is tax charged even if I only received a product and no money?
It can be. A product or service received as consideration for a project is an economic benefit = income, and you record the amount equivalent to the market price (fair market value) as income. If your income other than salary exceeds ¥200,000 a year, a tax return is required.
If my side business runs at a loss, do I get my salary tax back?
Because a miscellaneous-income loss cannot be aggregated with salary income, you do not. With business income you can aggregate the profit and loss, but it is judged by the actual situation — including profit-seeking nature and continuity, not just whether you keep books — and if it is seen as a hobby in reality it will be denied.
If my side-business profit is ¥200,000 or less, do I need to do nothing?
No income tax return is required, but because there is no ¥200,000 rule for residence tax, a residence tax declaration to your municipality is required. Also, in a year when you file a tax return for the medical expense deduction or the like, you must include side-business income of ¥200,000 or less in that filing too.
Reference links (sources)
This article is based on the following official materials (neutral, primary sources).
- National Tax Agency — Revision of the basic directive on income tax (examples of miscellaneous income, October 2022) (in Japanese)
- National Tax Agency — Tax Answer No.1500 Miscellaneous income (in Japanese)
- National Tax Agency — Tax Answer No.1900 Salary earners who must file a tax return (in Japanese)
- National Tax Agency — Tax Answer No.2210 Easy knowledge of necessary expenses (household-related expenses) (in Japanese)
- National Tax Agency — Tax Answer No.2250 Aggregation of profit and loss (in Japanese)
* This article is general information, not tax advice. Whether something can be deducted is judged differently depending on individual circumstances. For decisions on specific filings, please confirm with a tax office or a tax accountant.