Is internet service line 25 or line 30?

If the business space is part of your home, household internet is one of the home utilities that flows through the home office calculation on line 30, so claiming it again on line 25 double counts it; internet at a separately rented office is line 25.

Is internet service line 25 or line 18?

Line 25 is the connection itself; software and services delivered over it, cloud storage, a video conferencing subscription, a password manager, are office expense on line 18.

Where does internet go on Schedule C? Line 25

Q: Where does internet go on Schedule C?

Internet service belongs on Line 25, utilities. Internet access is a utility, so a connection at a business location you rent is line 25 in full with the electricity and the water. Shared household internet is the common case and it is the one that changes the answer: the bill has to be apportioned to business use, and because the connection serves the whole home it is normally treated as a household utility inside the home office calculation on line 30 rather than listed separately on line 25. The exception is a connection used exclusively for the business, a second circuit into a dedicated office for instance, which is fully a business cost you can claim directly. Pick one route and stay on it, because the same dollars cannot appear on line 25 and again in the Form 8829 utility total.

Short answer Schedule C, Line 25 Utilities

Internet service belongs on Line 25, utilities.

Why line 25

Internet access is a utility, so a connection at a business location you rent is line 25 in full with the electricity and the water. Shared household internet is the common case and it is the one that changes the answer: the bill has to be apportioned to business use, and because the connection serves the whole home it is normally treated as a household utility inside the home office calculation on line 30 rather than listed separately on line 25. The exception is a connection used exclusively for the business, a second circuit into a dedicated office for instance, which is fully a business cost you can claim directly. Pick one route and stay on it, because the same dollars cannot appear on line 25 and again in the Form 8829 utility total.

Stop looking up lines one at a time. ClaryBook totals your year into an IRS Schedule C worksheet in form order, Part I and Part II line by line, so internet service lands on Line 25 without you sorting it.

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What internet service is confused with

Line 30, line 30, business use of your home: If the business space is part of your home, household internet is one of the home utilities that flows through the home office calculation on line 30, so claiming it again on line 25 double counts it; internet at a separately rented office is line 25.
Line 18, office expense: Line 25 is the connection itself; software and services delivered over it, cloud storage, a video conferencing subscription, a password manager, are office expense on line 18.
Line 8, advertising: Connectivity is line 25; hosting that serves your marketing website to the public is advertising on line 8, even though both arrive as internet bills.

Examples that belong on line 25

$109.95 a month for Comcast Business fiber at a rented studio, deducted in full
$89.99 a month for Spectrum at home, 40 percent business, carried through the home office calculation
$70 a month for a second AT&T Fiber circuit that only the office uses, deducted in full
$120 a month for Starlink Business at a remote job site
$199 one-off installation charge for a business line at a new workshop
$55 a month for a backup DSL line kept so client calls never drop

What does not belong here

The whole household bill with no business-use percentage behind it.
The same internet cost claimed on line 25 and inside the Form 8829 utilities total.
A simplified-method home office claim plus a separate internet deduction for the same household line.
Streaming subscriptions and family devices bundled on the same account.
Website hosting, which is advertising on line 8.

The limit that applies

Only the business-use share of a shared connection is deductible. Where the business space is in your home, that share normally belongs in the home office calculation rather than on line 25, and it cannot be claimed in both places.

What to keep

Keep twelve monthly statements or the annual summary from the provider, and write down once how you arrived at the business percentage: hours of use, devices, or a dedicated circuit. If the connection is shared, the percentage is the part that gets questioned, not the amount, so the method needs to be written somewhere other than your memory.

Other expenses on line 25

Expense	Line
a dedicated second business landline	Schedule C, Line 25
a hotspot or mobile data plan	Schedule C, Line 25
a mixed-use phone bill	Schedule C, Line 25
a mobile phone bill	Schedule C, Line 25
a security monitoring service	Schedule C, Line 25
a shared internet connection	Schedule C, Line 25
a VoIP service	Schedule C, Line 25
electricity for a rented office or studio	Schedule C, Line 25
gas and heating for business premises	Schedule C, Line 25
utilities in a part-shop part-home building	Schedule C, Line 25
water, sewer and trash for business premises	Schedule C, Line 25

Related lookups

Sources

This page explains how Schedule C lines work. It is general information, not tax advice for your situation. If an expense is large or the answer turns on a fact about your business, confirm it with your tax preparer.

Looking for a different expense? The full Schedule C line lookup has every line from 8 to 27 with the expenses that belong on each, and Schedule C expense categories walks the whole form in order.

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