An expense is claimable when it is incurred for the business, documented by a receipt and kept for the statutory period. For tattoo artists that mainly means supplies, studio or chair rent, equipment, software, training and conventions, marketing, insurance and professional advice. Retention is 10 years in Switzerland, 8 years in Germany for accounting documents and invoices, and 7 years in Austria. No document, no expense.
- Three conditions: incurred for the business, documented, retained. Miss one and the expense does not count.
- The big blocks are supplies, workspace, equipment, software, training and travel, marketing, insurance and advice.
- Items used both privately and professionally, such as a phone or a car, are claimed in proportion.
- Clothing, your own tattoos and food are grey areas and are treated differently from country to country.
- Photograph the receipt immediately, assign a category, drop it in the monthly folder. One minute a day replaces three days in spring.
Contents
Every documented business expense lowers your profit and with it the tax you pay on it. That sounds like accounting theory, but it is very practical: a box of cartridges for 180 CHF or euros costs you less in the end when the receipt exists. The effort is not in claiming, it is in collecting.
What actually counts as a business expense?
Three conditions have to come together. Miss one and the expense is worthless for tax purposes, even though you really did spend the money.
- Incurred for the business: you bought it for the work, not privately. With mixed use, only the business share counts.
- Documented: there is a document showing date, merchant, item and amount. A bank statement alone is usually not enough.
- Retained: the document stays findable and readable for the statutory period, digitally or on paper.
The second point is where studios fall down. Not because nobody buys anything, but because the till slip from the supply shop stays in a jacket. How to solve that structurally is covered in the bookkeeping basics.
Which expenses can a tattoo artist claim?
The overview below covers practically everything a tattoo business runs into regularly. The categories help twice over: when filing receipts, and later when you want to see where your money actually goes.
| Category | Typical examples | Receipt tip |
|---|---|---|
| Supplies | needles, cartridges, inks, film, gloves, disinfectant, razors, paper towels | order once a month, then it is one document instead of twelve |
| Workspace | studio rent, chair rent, electricity, cleaning, bed, lamp, steriliser, furniture | file the lease once, keep monthly payment records next to it |
| Equipment | machine, power supply, foot switch, iPad and pencil, phone, stencil printer | store purchase documents for expensive items separately, they are often written off over several years |
| Software and subscriptions | drawing apps, booking and bookkeeping app, cloud storage, website hosting | invoices arrive by email, so a mail folder with a rule saves the searching |
| Training | seminars, courses, hygiene training, professional literature | keep the attendance confirmation with the receipt, it explains the business link |
| Conventions and guest spots | booth fee, travel, accommodation, shipping equipment | put every receipt of one trip in a subfolder named by place and date |
| Marketing | photo shoots, website, business cards, flyers, ads | download the platform invoice for ads instead of keeping a screenshot |
| Insurance | professional liability, contents cover, legal cover for the business | file the annual policy together with the payment record |
| Professional advice | accountant, tax adviser, lawyer for contracts, bookkeeping help | file fee invoices immediately, they often arrive only once a year |
Items used both ways are claimed in proportion. A phone you use 70 percent for work goes in at 70 percent. Write down how you arrived at that share, then you can explain it later.
Grey areas where you should be careful
Some items feel obvious but are judged differently by tax authorities, and practice varies between Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The rule here is: document it, do not assume it will be accepted, and ask before rather than argue afterwards.
- Clothing: ordinary clothes are usually not accepted, even if you only wear them in the studio. Genuine protective or branded work wear, such as aprons or studio shirts with a logo, is often treated differently.
- Tattoos on your own body: regularly classified as private, even when they work as advertising. A trade with a colleague is also an exchange of services and not simply a zero transaction.
- Food and drink: your own meals in the studio are private. Entertaining business partners and travel allowances are regulated differently by country and are often only partly claimable.
- Home office: only under narrow conditions, and those differ considerably between the three countries.
- Car: trips between home and studio are treated differently from trips to conventions. A mileage log or a clean record is the basis here.
None of this is a promise that something will be accepted. It tells you where a conversation with your accountant or tax adviser beforehand is cheaper than a discussion afterwards.
What has to be on a receipt?
A usable receipt answers four questions: who sold it, when, what and for how much. If one of those is missing, things get difficult.
- Name and address of the merchant or service provider.
- Date of purchase or of the service.
- A description of the goods or service, not just 'miscellaneous'.
- The amount, plus rate and tax amount where tax is shown.
- On larger invoices, your own name and address as the recipient.
When a receipt is missing, a self-issued voucher with date, purpose, amount and a short explanation sometimes helps. That is an exception for individual cases, not a substitute for a system. Which details belong on your own documents is covered in the article on receipts and invoices.
Is a photo enough or do you need the original?
As a rule you may archive receipts digitally, as long as the copy is complete, unchanged and readable for the whole period. So the photo has to show the entire document, sharp and in context. Some documents may still be required as originals under national rules, so do not bin the paper right away, file it by year instead.
| Country | Retention period | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 10 years | business books and documents, Art. 958f CO |
| Germany | 8 years for accounting documents and invoices, 10 years for books and annual accounts | shortened from 10 to 8 years in 2025 |
| Austria | 7 years | Section 132 BAO |
A system that costs you one minute a day
Receipt chaos is not caused by laziness, it is caused by a missing habit. Three steps, always the same, are enough.
- Photograph immediately: at the counter, before the slip goes into a pocket. Thermal paper fades within months.
- Assign a category: supplies, workspace, equipment, software, training, travel, marketing, insurance, advice. Nine drawers are plenty.
- Into the monthly folder: one folder per month, file name with date, merchant and amount. At year end you hand over twelve folders.
2026/
01_January/
2026-01-04_SupplyShop_Cartridges_182.50.pdf
2026-01-08_ChairRent_Studio_900.00.pdf
2026-01-15_Software_Subscription_16.00.pdf
02_February/
2026-02-03_Convention_BoothFee_450.00.pdf
2026-02-03_Convention_Hotel_260.00.pdf
Rule: date first, then merchant, then purpose, then amount.
The folder sorts itself and every document is one search away.How your expenses interact with VAT, and from which turnover you have to register, is covered in the article on tax and VAT.
Frequently asked questions
What can a tattoo artist claim as a business expense?
Anything incurred for the business and backed by a document: supplies such as needles, inks and film, studio or chair rent, equipment like a machine or an iPad, software and subscriptions, training, conventions including travel and accommodation, marketing, business insurance and the cost of an accountant or tax adviser. Items used both privately and professionally are claimed in proportion.
Is a photo of a receipt enough or do I need the original?
As a rule a digital copy is enough when it stays complete, unchanged and readable for the whole retention period. Photograph the document in full and in focus. Whether individual documents also have to be kept as originals depends on the country, so it is worth filing paper receipts by year anyway.
Can I claim my own tattoos as advertising?
In practice tattoos on your own body are usually treated as a private expense, even when they genuinely attract clients. A trade with a colleague is also an exchange of services that has to be recorded in your books. Clarify this with your accountant or tax adviser beforehand rather than simply claiming it.
Are conventions and guest spots deductible?
Booth fees, travel, accommodation and shipping equipment are incurred for the business and are therefore claimable in principle. Collect every receipt from a trip in one folder named by place and date and add a short note on the purpose. Meals follow separate rules and allowances depending on the country.
What do I do when a receipt is missing?
First ask the merchant for a copy, and for online orders it is usually sitting in your account. If that fails, a self-issued voucher with date, purpose, amount and a short explanation can help in individual cases. That is an exception for small amounts and no substitute for a system, because without evidence the expense may simply fall away.
How long do I have to keep receipts?
Switzerland requires 10 years for business books and documents. Germany has required 8 years for accounting documents and invoices since 2025, while books and annual accounts still have to be kept for 10 years. Austria requires 7 years. Digital archives have to stay readable and orderly across the entire period.
By the Taddoo team, built by artists and booking managers for artists. Published September 9, 2026, last updated September 12, 2026.
