Website hosting belongs on Line 8, advertising.
Why line 8
Hosting keeps a promotional asset in front of the public and the monthly fee buys nothing that lasts beyond the month, so it is a current advertising cost on line 8. Routine content changes, plugin renewals and security patching follow the same treatment. The one-time cost of having the site built is different, because that produces something with a useful life well beyond the year.
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 website hosting lands on Line 8 without you sorting it.
Start for freeWhat website hosting is confused with
- Form 4562, form 4562, carried to schedule c line 13
- Monthly hosting and routine updates are line 8; a ground up build that produces a long lived site is a capital cost recovered on Form 4562.
- Line 18, office expense
- A plan bought to publish a public marketing site is line 8; a plan bought mainly for company email and file storage is office expense on line 18.
Examples that belong on line 8
- $12 a month shared hosting at Bluehost
- A $29 a month managed WordPress plan at WP Engine
- $180 a year of a paid Cloudflare tier for the marketing site
- A $90 annual SSL certificate for the public site
- $45 to a developer for a routine theme update
What does not belong here
- A ground up site build, which is a capital cost
- Your home internet line, which is utilities on line 25 or part of the home office calculation
- Hosting for a personal blog with no business activity
What to keep
Keep the annual invoice from the host and note which domain it covers. If the same plan also hosts a personal site, split the cost and keep the basis for the split.
Other expenses on line 8
| Expense | Line |
|---|---|
| a domain name registration | Schedule C, Line 8 |
| a Squarespace or Webflow subscription | Schedule C, Line 8 |
| an email marketing tool such as Mailchimp | Schedule C, Line 8 |
| business cards and printed flyers | Schedule C, Line 8 |
| Facebook and Instagram ad spend | Schedule C, Line 8 |
| Google Ads spend | Schedule C, Line 8 |
| logo and brand design | Schedule C, Line 8 |
| SEO tools such as Ahrefs or Semrush | Schedule C, Line 8 |
| sponsorship and influencer fees | Schedule C, Line 8 |
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.
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 website hosting lands on Line 8 without you sorting it.
Start for free