Schedule C Lines 28 & 29: Total Expenses and Tentative Profit Explained for Freelancers (2026)

Published: June 9, 2026 · Reading time: 7 min

TL;DR: Line 28 adds up every business deduction you listed on Lines 8–27a. Line 29 subtracts that total from your gross income on Line 7 to give your tentative profit. It's "tentative" because one deduction is still missing — the home office on Line 30 — which gets its own line because it can't push your business into a loss. Subtract Line 30 from Line 29 and you reach Line 31, your real net profit, the number that feeds your income tax and the 15.3% self-employment tax. Get Lines 28 and 29 wrong and the error follows you onto three other forms.

Most freelancers obsess over the individual expense lines and skip right past Lines 28 and 29 — the two lines that actually turn those deductions into a number the IRS taxes. They're simple arithmetic, but the order matters, and one of them (Line 29) is a checkpoint the home-office deduction depends on. Here's exactly what flows into each, in plain English.

This is the home stretch of Part II expenses and the bridge to Line 31 net profit or loss.

Line 28: Total Expenses (Lines 8 Through 27a)

Line 28 is a sum. You add together every expense you entered in Part II:

• Line 8 — Advertising
• Line 9 — Car and truck expenses
• Line 10 — Commissions and fees
• Line 11 — Contract labor
• Line 13 — Depreciation and Section 179
• Lines 14–26 — Benefits, insurance, interest, legal, office, rent, repairs, supplies, taxes & licenses, travel, meals, utilities, wages
• Line 27a — Other expenses (totaled from Part V)

The result on Line 28 is your total business deductions — but notice what's not in it: the home-office deduction. That's deliberate. Line 28 stops at Line 27a. Everything that flows through your receipts and mileage log lands here first; for the full map of which cost goes on which line, see the Part II walkthrough.

Common Line 28 error: double-counting. A cost belongs on exactly one line. Putting software on both Line 22 (supplies) and Line 27a (other expenses), or claiming the same vehicle cost via both mileage on Line 9 and depreciation on Line 13, inflates Line 28 and is exactly the kind of mismatch an examiner catches.

Line 29: Tentative Profit or Loss

Line 29 is one subtraction:

Line 7 (gross income) − Line 28 (total expenses) = Line 29 (tentative profit or loss)

Line 7 is your gross income after cost of goods sold. Take away every Part II deduction and you have your tentative profit. If expenses exceed income, Line 29 is negative — a tentative loss.

The word "tentative" is doing real work here. Line 29 is almost your bottom line, but the IRS holds back one deduction — the home office — and gives it a separate line with a separate rule.

Why the Home Office Waits Until Line 30

The home-office deduction can't create or deepen a business loss. It's limited to your tentative profit on Line 29. That's the whole reason Line 29 exists as its own checkpoint: it's the ceiling for Line 30.

• If Line 29 is $8,000, your home-office deduction on Line 30 can be at most $8,000.
• If Line 29 is zero or negative, Line 30 is zero, and the unused home-office amount carries forward to next year (via Form 8829, if you use the actual-expense method).

So the sequence is:

1. Line 28 — total your expenses.
2. Line 29 — subtract them from gross income to get tentative profit.
3. Line 30 — apply the home office, capped at Line 29.
4. Line 31 — tentative profit minus home office = net profit or loss.

For the mechanics of the deduction itself, see home office on Line 30.

A Worked Example

Say a freelance designer has:

That $41,100 on Line 31 — not the $42,600 tentative figure — is what flows to Schedule 1 and gets taxed. The home office only mattered because Line 29 was comfortably positive.

Where the Number Goes Next

Line 31 net profit doesn't stop at Schedule C. It feeds:

• Schedule 1 (Form 1040), Line 3 — adding to your total income.
• Schedule SE — the base for the 15.3% self-employment tax.
• Your Section 199A QBI deduction — net profit is the starting point. See the QBI deduction for freelancers.

Because Line 31 drives both taxes, an inflated Line 28 (over-claimed deductions) understates your tax and invites scrutiny, while a missed deduction overstates it and costs you money. The two-line stretch from 28 to 29 is where that accuracy is won or lost — and why a clean, line-tagged expense record matters more than any single deduction.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Schedule C Line 28 and Line 29?

Line 28 is the sum of all your business expenses from Lines 8 through 27a — advertising, car and truck, supplies, insurance, and everything else. Line 29 is your tentative profit (or loss): it's Line 7 (gross income) minus Line 28 (total expenses). Line 28 totals your deductions; Line 29 applies them to your income. Line 29 is called "tentative" because one more deduction — the home office on Line 30 — still comes off before you reach your true net profit on Line 31.

Why is Line 29 called "tentative" profit?

Because it isn't your final number. Line 29 subtracts every expense except the home-office deduction, which gets its own line (Line 30) and its own limit. The IRS handles the home office separately because it can't create or deepen a business loss — it's capped at the amount of tentative profit on Line 29. So Line 29 is the figure the home-office deduction is measured against, and Line 31 (Line 29 minus Line 30) is your actual net profit or loss.

Does Line 28 include the home office deduction?

No. Line 28 totals only Lines 8 through 27a. The home-office deduction is deliberately left out of that total and entered separately on Line 30, after tentative profit is computed on Line 29. This ordering exists because the home-office deduction can't reduce your business below break-even — it's limited to your Line 29 tentative profit, with any disallowed amount carried forward.

What happens if Line 29 is negative?

A negative Line 29 means your deductible expenses exceeded your gross income — a business loss. When Line 29 is zero or negative, your home-office deduction on Line 30 is limited to zero (it can't create or increase a loss), so any home-office expense carries forward to a future year via Form 8829. Your Line 31 net loss then flows to Schedule 1 and is tested under the at-risk, excess-business-loss, and hobby-loss rules.

Where does Line 29 / Line 31 go after Schedule C?

Line 31 net profit flows to Schedule 1 (Form 1040), Line 3, where it becomes part of your total income, and to Schedule SE, where it's hit with the 15.3% self-employment tax. It's also the starting point for your Section 199A qualified business income (QBI) deduction. Because Line 31 drives both your income tax and your self-employment tax, an error on Line 28 or Line 29 ripples through your whole return.

Authoritative References

• IRS — About Schedule C (Form 1040)
• IRS — 2024 Instructions for Schedule C
• IRS — About Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home
• IRS — Self-Employment Tax (Schedule SE)

Related reading: Part II expenses (Lines 8–28) · Line 30 home office · Line 31 net profit or loss

Let Your Expenses Total Themselves

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This guide is general education for U.S. freelancers and Schedule C filers in 2026. It is not personalized tax advice — bring your specific situation to a CPA or EA.