MARK KOHLERMain Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, LLC · Owner at Main Street Professionals, LLC

When you're Allowed to take a Tax Write Off

26 Jan 2026 · 1 min

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Mark Kohler explains that tax write-offs require a for-profit business, not just investments. Stock portfolios don't qualify, but domain flipping, land flipping, and affiliate marketing do. Set up a legal entity, separate bank account, and track expenses carefully to keep business and investment income distinct.

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You need to realize people that in order to have a business and take tax deductions, you have to have a for profit motive. That is a business generating concept. Managing your stock portfolio is not a business. Creating investment income is not a business. You cannot write off your home office to manage your stock portfolio is a business of buying and selling domains. Work? Yes. Buying land and reselling land? Yes. Becoming an affiliate? Yes. So you may want to set up an entity, a bank account, and start tracking the revenue you earn doing the those business deals. And then you can write off expenses related to that. But just remember, managing your stock portfolio is not a write off or a business. Try to bifurcate your investment life from your business life, and then both of those can generate income for your retirement. But they're two different types of income.