Plumbing Business Expenses: Truck Stock, Tools, Write-Offs
Short answer: Plumbing business expenses split three ways. Parts consumed on jobs — fittings, valves, PEX rings, solder, wax rings, supply lines — are supplies, and a stocked service van carries thousands of dollars of them. Tools cross into depreciation above the $2,500 de minimis threshold per item, which catches press tools, drain machines, jetters, and cameras. Then there is the money nobody logs: permit fees fronted for customers, disposal on an old water heater, and gauge calibration.
No other trade carries as much of its business rolling around in the back of a van. A stocked service truck is a small hardware store on wheels, and how you account for it decides whether your books mean anything in December. The wider list is in self-employed tax deductions.
Is truck stock inventory or a supply expense?
For most one-to-three van shops, restock is treated as supplies and deducted in the year the parts are bought. That works as long as van inventory stays roughly level from one December to the next — you buy what you use, and the timing washes out.
It stops washing out when the stock level jumps. Outfitting a second van in November, or loading up ahead of an announced copper price increase, moves a lot of unused material across a year boundary. Non-incidental materials and supplies are technically deductible when used or consumed rather than when purchased, so a big year-end stock-up is the one case worth raising with your preparer.
Either way, the restock receipt has to exist and tie to something. A $340 counter ticket for fittings, cinch rings, and ball valves is a deduction if you can produce it and a mystery card charge if you cannot.
Which plumbing tools get written off now, and which get depreciated?
The line most shops work from is the IRS de minimis safe harbor: without an applicable financial statement, up to $2,500 per invoice or per item.
| Tool | Where it typically falls | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Wrenches, tubing cutters, torch kit, PEX crimp tool | Under | Expense |
| Cordless tools, wet vac, small transfer pump | Under | Expense |
| PEX expander with head set | Near the line | Check the invoice |
| Press tool with jaw set | Package price often over, jaws individually under | Itemize and treat per item |
| Sectional or drum drain machine | At or over | Check the invoice |
| Inspection camera with reel and locator | Usually over | Capitalize, or use another immediate write-off provision |
| Trailer jetter, threading machine | Well over | Capitalize |
| Service van | Over | Vehicle rules, see below |
The press-tool row is where money gets left on the counter. Distributors quote a tool and a set of jaws as one packaged line; listed separately, the tool is one item and each jaw is another, and the individual amounts often land under the threshold. Ask for the itemized invoice while the sale is being written.
Repairs are always an expense: a drain machine rebuild, a new jetter hose, replacement cable sections, a camera head, jaws serviced back to spec.
What happens to the parts I pull off the van at 11 p.m.?
They get consumed, they get billed, and then they get forgotten. Emergency calls lose both sides of the ledger at once: the part is gone from the van, the restock happens three days later on a receipt that names no job, and the invoice sometimes never lists the fitting.
Build one habit — photograph the restock receipt and write on it which calls it replaced. Ten seconds at the counter documents the expense and shows whether emergency work is as profitable as it feels. The consumables that vanish this way:
- PEX cinch rings and expansion rings, sold in bags of 100
- Solder, flux, sand cloth, thread sealant, pipe dope, and PTFE tape
- Recip blades and hole saws, which cast iron destroys fast
- Wax rings, closet bolts, supply lines, and angle stops
- Drain cable sections, which are wear items, not tools
Are permit and inspection fees my expense or the customer’s?
Both, which is why they get lost. You pay the jurisdiction, the fee shows on your invoice at cost, and the customer reimburses it inside the job total. The payment is a deductible expense and the reimbursement is income; leaving both off does not net to zero, it makes the job look cheaper than it was.
Keep the permit receipt with the job. Same for anything else you front: a delivery fee, an expedited part, a dumpster, the disposal charge on the old unit.
Do I deduct the van, or take the mileage rate?
This is a one-time fork per vehicle, and plumbers hit it harder than most trades because a service van is expensive, heavy, and unmistakably a work vehicle.
To use the standard mileage rate on a vehicle you own, you generally have to choose it in the first year the vehicle is available for business use, and you cannot use it for a vehicle on which you claimed Section 179, bonus depreciation, or MACRS depreciation. The conditions are in Publication 463 and the IRS topic on business use of a car.
The other half of the decision is record-keeping. The mileage route needs a contemporaneous log of dates, destinations, and business purpose — IRS mileage log requirements covers what belongs in it. The actual-expense route needs every fuel, insurance, tire, and repair receipt plus a defensible business-use percentage.
Two adjacent items to list separately: shelving and bins installed in the van, and lettering or a full wrap, which is normally advertising.
Is the scrap copper and the old water heater income or a write-off?
The haul-away is a cost. The scrap check is income.
Old tanks, tear-out copper, and brass fittings go to the yard and come back as cash. That money is business income, not a rebate on your day, and the yard ticket is the record. Some transfer stations also charge to take an old water heater or a cast iron tub, and that fee is only provable with the ticket. Both slips live in the same door pocket until they are unreadable.
Which licenses, certifications, and insurance count?
- Master or journeyman license renewal, plus continuing education hours you pay for, and contractor registration with the surety bond premium your state or city requires.
- Backflow tester certification and the annual calibration of the test kit — a recurring cost most people forget is recurring.
- Specialty certifications such as medical gas, or training for lining and trenchless work.
- General liability, with attention to water damage. Coverage for the customer’s property you were working on is not always what you assume you have.
- Workers’ compensation at the plumbing classification, with the payroll records that feed the annual premium audit, plus commercial auto on the van and trailer.
- Tool floater, which pays when a camera reel or press tool leaves a driveway in someone else’s truck. The original itemized invoice makes that claim payable.
What do plumbers miss most at tax time?
- Restock runs paid in cash at a hardware store on the way to a call.
- Disposal fees on old water heaters and tubs, paid at a scale house window.
- Test kit calibration, invoiced once a year by a lab you use once a year.
- Van shelving, bins, and racking installed after the vehicle was bought.
- Parking, tolls, and loading fees on downtown service calls.
- After-hours costs: an answering service, on-call pay, overtime to a helper.
- Drain cable sections and jetter nozzles, never written off when they wear out.
- Logo shirts and jackets, deductible when branded and not everyday clothing.
- The helper paid in cash with no record, which is not a deduction you can defend.
- Permit fees fronted for a customer and never posted on either side.
What records make these hold up at year end?
A receipt with a job name on it, kept from the moment of purchase. That is the whole system. Sorting a shoebox in April means guessing which of eleven February counter tickets belonged to the repipe, and guessing turns real spending into an unclaimed deduction. The same records drive what you owe, which is the point of how much to set aside for 1099 taxes, and how long they have to survive is in how long to keep tax records.
Keel is built for doing this one-handed while the other hand holds a wrench. Photograph the ticket for a 50-gallon heater, two ball valves, and a bag of cinch rings, and Apple Intelligence reads it on the device — no account, no bank connection, no cloud, no login, and an App Store privacy label that reads Data Not Collected. The scrap yard slip and the disposal ticket get the same treatment before the paper fades, and miles between six stops log as you drive. Invoices leave the site in about a minute with your own numbering, logo, brand color, and a payment link the customer scans as a QR code. At year end the Accountant Pack exports a CSV and a one-page summary, and the whole year leaves as a single file. Free covers unlimited invoices, receipts, and mileage; Keel Pro is a one-time $249.99 Lifetime purchase, not a subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Can a plumber deduct truck stock in the year it is purchased?
Most small shops deduct restock as supplies when bought, which works when van inventory stays about level year over year. Non-incidental materials and supplies are technically deductible when used or consumed, so a large year-end stock-up — a second van outfitted in December, or a bulk buy ahead of a price increase — is worth raising with your tax preparer.
Is a press tool a deductible expense or a depreciable asset?
It depends on what the invoice shows. Under the de minimis safe harbor, a business without an applicable financial statement can deduct up to $2,500 per invoice or per item. A press tool quoted as one package with a jaw set can exceed that, while the tool and each jaw listed separately often do not.
Do I have to report money from scrap copper and old water heaters?
Yes. Proceeds from scrap metal you haul away from jobs are business income, and the yard ticket records the amount and date. Disposal fees you pay a transfer station for tanks or fixtures with no scrap value are deductible expenses. Both slips are small paper receipts that fade, so photograph them the day you get them.
Are permit fees a plumbing business expense if the customer reimburses me?
Yes, on both sides. The fee you pay the jurisdiction is a deductible expense, and the reimbursement on your invoice is income. Omitting both looks harmless because it nets to zero, but it understates revenue and makes job costing wrong. Keep the permit receipt attached to the job it belongs to.
Should I use the mileage rate or actual expenses for a service van?
The choice is effectively locked in early. For a vehicle you own, the standard mileage rate generally has to be chosen in the first year it is available for business use, and it is unavailable if you claimed Section 179, bonus depreciation, or MACRS on that vehicle. Run both methods against a realistic year of stops first.
This article is general information, not professional or tax advice.
How do I claim my driving?
Turning spend into a deduction
Every expense, categorised and kept.
Receipts captured on device become a record you can hand over at year end, with the proof still attached to the entry. Reports include a Schedule C category summary.
On-device · No account · Data Not Collected