Within the desktop version, the Deductions section allows you to view and manage your expenses, although the functionality is limited compared to the Keeper app. It's nothing to worry about, our team is always working on updating and adding new features so you can have the best experience possible!
Let's take a look at each of the features currently available in the web dashboard below.
Year
When you click on the year, you can toggle between your deductions for this year and the previous year.
📝 Please keep in mind that we currently only support the current year and the previous year.
Navigation: Deductions -> Year
Search expenses by name
This section will let you search your transactions by merchant's name. (e.g. Netflix)
Navigation: Deductions -> Magnifying glass
Manually adding an expense
The "+" icon in the top right corner is where you can manually add a business expense.
Navigation: Deductions -> Add expense
All you need is:
- The name of the purchase
- Date
- Amount spent
- Category
Don't forget to hit Save so it gets added to your deductions.
Navigation: Deductions -> Add expense
Manually adding expenses in bulk
If you need to add a large number of expenses at once, you can upload them in a PDF, XLSX, or CSV file. To do this, go to the Deductions tab on your web dashboard, click on “Add Expense,” and then choose “Upload Expenses.” This feature is especially useful if you have a bank account or card that isn’t currently supported by the app. Just upload a spreadsheet or bank statement of the expenses from that account, and Keeper will automatically add them to the Deductions tab once the upload is complete.
Navigation: Deductions -> Add expense -> Upload expenses
After uploading, we recommend reviewing your expenses to ensure they’re correctly marked and categorized. To easily locate your manually added expenses, use the "Account" filter and select “Manually Added.”
Deleting a manually-added expense
If you need to remove a manually added expense, navigate to the Deductions tab, locate the expense you want to delete, and then tap on 'Delete' at the bottom of the page.
Navigation: Deductions -> select manually added expense -> Delete
Creating a rule
The 'Rules' button in the top right corner of the Deductions page is where you can manually create a rule for your recurring expenses.
This will bring a pop-up window where you can create rules. If you already created a rule, you'll see that rule listed on this page.
When creating a rule, all you need to enter are:
- Merchant name
- Deduction status
- Category
Here are some types of rules you can create for managing your expenses:
- Deduction: Set up rules for recurring deductions such as utilities, subscription services, and insurance. This way, you won't need to manually add them each month.
- Not Deductible: Create rules for personal transactions to ensure they aren't mistakenly categorized as deductions. This is ideal for expenses like grocery store purchases or non-work-related streaming services.
- Ask Me: For expenses that might qualify as deductions only in specific situations, create a rule and select 'Ask Me' for the status. This means these expenses won’t be automatically categorized. Instead, you can review them in the app and decide if they qualify as deductions. If you prefer to manually categorize certain expenses, you can set up rules for those and choose 'Ask Me' as well.
You can also choose to apply the rule to past purchases. By selecting this option, all expenses with the specified merchant name will be automatically updated according to the rule you’ve set.
Navigation: Deductions -> Rules
Exporting your deductions
On the web dashboard, you can export a spreadsheet of your deductions by clicking the three-dot menu or 'More' button in the top-right corner. Be sure to select the correct year under the Deductions tab before exporting.
Navigation: Deductions -> three-dot menu -> click 'Export'
Linking another account
Additionally, you can link another bank account or card in the three-dot menu. Just click on "Link another account," and you'll be instantly directed to the Settings tab of your dashboard to complete the process.
Navigation: Deductions -> three-dot -> click 'Link another account'
Estimating your tax bill or refund
Curious about how much you might owe in taxes or whether you’ll get a refund? The "Tax Estimate" feature provides a quick calculation, giving you a rough idea of your potential tax bill or refund. You can access this by selecting the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the Deductions page.
Keep in mind that while the estimate provides a helpful ballpark figure, it doesn’t take into account other sources of income, credits, or deductions that will be factored in during the actual filing process. Think of it as a useful guide, but not a final calculation. Your actual tax bill or refund may vary once you complete your filing with us and submit your return for review.
Navigation: Deductions -> three-dot menu -> click 'Tax estimate'
Understanding your tax profile
Your tax profile includes important details about your income, work, and some of the credits or deductions that can affect your taxes. This helps the app give you a better estimate of your potential tax bill or refund. It also uses this information to calculate your tax rate, which plays a role in figuring out your Estimated Tax Savings.
Additionally, you can update the percentage of your vehicle, home, and phone expenses that are used for business. You can also let us know if you travel for business or have meals with clients.
To access your Tax Profile, just select "Improve this estimate" under the Tax Estimate feature. Below, we’ll explain each section of your tax profile in more detail.
Navigation: Deductions -> three-dot menu -> Tax Estimate -> select 'Improve this estimate'
Household Details and Income
In this section, you can update your:
- State of residence
- Tax filing status
- Dependents (if any)
- Expected annual W-2 employee income
- Expected annual freelancing/business income
Keep in mind that updating your household details and income information will also adjust your tax rate in the app, which can affect your Estimated Tax Savings. If you notice a change in your Estimated Tax Savings amount, it's likely due to the updates you've made in your tax profile. You can always check your current tax rate by selecting your Estimated Tax Savings amount in the Deductions tab.
Freelancing Details
Here, you can update the type of 1099 work or business you do. If you can’t find an exact match, just choose the option that best fits your situation.
As you continue to use Keeper, it will learn from your spending habits, helping to categorize your expenses and suggest possible deductions based on your work.
💡 Tip: If your occupation or industry isn’t listed in the dropdown menu, you can select “Other.”
Next, you’ll see toggle switches and sliders for common deductions like business meals, travel expenses, home office, vehicle use, phone-related expenses, and public transportation costs. The information you provide here helps Keeper calculate your potential savings and determine which expenses you can deduct.
You can easily use the toggle switch to indicate if you have business meals with clients or colleagues, or if you travel for work.
Below, you can adjust the sliders to reflect the percentage of time you use your vehicle, phone, home, or public transportation for 1099 work or business purposes. For example, if you drive six hours per week and spend three of those hours on work-related tasks, set the slider to 50%. You can update these percentages at any time.
📝 If a deduction doesn’t apply to you, simply set the percentage to zero. For example, if you don’t have a dedicated home office for your business, set the home office slider to zero.
💡Tip: For a better understanding of which expenses qualify for these deductions, we recommend checking out our helpful articles on our website at https://www.keepertax.com/free-resources.
Taxes Paid, Credits, and Deductions
In the final section of your Tax Profile, you can enter details about the federal and state income taxes withheld from your W-2, or any quarterly tax payments you’ve made. You’ll also have the option to indicate if you qualify for any of the following credits or deductions: student tuition payments, mortgage interest, or traditional IRA contributions.
Estimated tax savings
The amount you see here is an estimate of the money you'll get back from the government at tax time, either as a tax refund or a bill reduction.
Keeper does the math so you don't have to. For those who want to know, the value is determined by multiplying your tax rate by the dollar value of your total tax deductions.
📝 The Estimated Tax Savings amount doesn’t show your total deductions. To view your total deductions, just click on the Estimated Tax Savings. This will open a page where you can see both your total deductions and your current tax rate.
Also, keep in mind that the tax rate used to calculate your estimated tax savings is based on the income and personal details in your tax profile. You can update your tax profile anytime in the Settings tab of the app.
Navigation: Deductions -> Estimated Tax Savings
Deductions overview by category
If you click on Estimated Tax Savings, a pop-up window will appear with a breakdown of your total deductions X your tax rate and your total estimated tax savings.
This is where you'll also see a list of all your deductions per category. And where you can view, manage, and edit them.
By tapping on the category, you’ll see all the added expenses for that category.
Reviewing these sections is a great way to stay organized and ensure all your expenses are tracked!
Navigation: Deductions -> Estimated Tax Savings
Sorting expenses
Below estimated tax savings, you can see a list of all your expenses that you can filter by:
- Date
- Merchant
- Account
- Status
- Category
- Amount
Navigation: Deductions
Filtering expenses by transaction status
If you tap on Status, you’ll be able to filter your transactions by:
- Suggested
- Deductions
- Not deductible
Navigation: Deductions -> Status
Under "Suggested," you'll find a list of expenses that need categorizing. You can mark each expense as either a "deduction" or "not deductible."
Checking this section frequently to correctly mark each expense is a great habit to develop.
More deductions equal more tax savings!
Navigation: Deductions -> Status -> Suggested
Editing an Expense
Selecting an expense in the "Deductions" tab opens up a list of tools to help you micro-manage the transactions that are added to your list of deductions.
You can click on a specific purchase to:
- Mark the purchase as a deduction or not deductible
- Edit the expense category
- Adjust the business-use percentage for that particular expense
You can also add a note to your expenses. This is helpful if you'd like to add extra documentation for your transactions, especially business meals, such as who you're with or what the meeting was about.
Navigation: Deductions -> Select the expense
Bulk edit
The bulk edit feature lets you update multiple transactions at once. First, filter for the specific expenses you want to edit. Then, select the checkbox in the header row to choose all filtered transactions. You can uncheck any individual transactions you don't want to edit.
You can edit the selected expenses by adjusting the following:
- Status: This option lets you mark all selected expenses as either "Deductions" or "Not Deductible."
- Category: This allows you to assign a category to all selected expenses. You can choose from the available categories, but please note that only one category can be applied to all selected transactions.
- Split Amounts: Use this feature to adjust the business-use percentage for the selected transactions.
- Note: Add the same note to all selected expenses.
If you prefer to manage your expenses on the app, feel free to check out this article about the app's Deductions tab!