--- title: Taxes and Deductibles description: Tracking tax deductible purchases in Essential Budget. Mark deductible lines on scanned receipts, link refunds and credits, and export a year-end report as PDF, CSV, or ZIP. subtitle: Deduction evidence, straight from your receipts. sidebar: order: 40 section: Receipts canonical_html_url: https://eb.app/learn/taxes-and-deductibles/ --- # Taxes and Deductibles Mark the deductible lines on your receipts as you go, and the app builds your year-end evidence for you: every deductible purchase with its share of sales tax, grouped by category, with the original receipt images behind it. When tax season comes, you export one report instead of digging through a shoebox. The report is free for everyone. ## Marking lines deductible Open a receipt, start editing (the pencil in the toolbar), and check the deductible box in the "Ded" column on each line you can deduct. The card header totals what you marked ("Deductible: $12.40"), and marked lines carry a check mark in that column. A discount or coupon is shown as a reduction and left out of the deductible total, since a reduction is never tax deductible. For the full line-item editor, see [Line items](https://eb.app/learn/receipts.md#line-items). ## The year-end tax report Tap **Tax report** at the top of the Receipts tab to build a report for the current year or any of the five years before it. The report gathers every line item you marked deductible, with its share of sales tax, grouped by category. If you linked any refunds or credits (see [Marking a refund, return, or credit](#marking-a-refund-return-or-credit)), the report subtracts the ones dated in the same tax year and the same currency, and it shows three figures: gross deductible, refunds applied, and net deductible. Net is never less than zero. A refund linked across currencies is not subtracted; the report counts those separately so you can see them. Export the report as a PDF for your accountant or a CSV for spreadsheets, or download the supporting receipt images as a ZIP. The report also tells you what it might be missing: - A coverage note says how many receipts that year are not yet itemized, so you can fill gaps before exporting. The **Not itemized** filter on the Receipts tab finds them. - If receipts look like refunds for a deductible purchase but are not linked to one, the report shows how many ("2 possible refunds not accounted for") and lists them, so you can link them before exporting. Nothing is subtracted for a refund until you link it. The report is generated from your scanned receipts and is not tax advice. ## Marking a refund, return, or credit When you get money back on something you bought, you can tell the app that the refund relates to an earlier purchase. Your year-end tax report then counts the net amount instead of the full purchase. When the app recognizes a receipt as a likely refund or credit for an earlier purchase at the same store, it proposes the matching purchase for you. Open the receipt, and you see a line such as "This refund looks like it is for your Desk Co purchase on 2026-02-01 ($100.00). Apply it?" Tap **Apply** to link it, or **Dismiss** to pick a different purchase or leave it unlinked. The app never links a refund on its own: the suggestion is a starting point you confirm. You can also link a refund yourself. Open the receipt for the refund, start editing (the pencil in the toolbar), and tap **Mark as refund**. A picker titled "Refund for which purchase?" lists the purchases in your budget. Search by store name and tap the original purchase. The refund then shows "Refund or credit for" that purchase, with a **Remove** button while editing if you change your mind. The original purchase shows how many refunds you have linked to it. If the refund lists the items you returned, edit its **Receipt Line Items** and check the deductible box on the lines that match your deductible purchase. On a refund, marked lines work in the other direction: the report subtracts the refund's deductible amount, with its share of tax, from the original purchase instead of adding to your deduction. The app does not decide your taxes. It subtracts only what you linked, shows its work as gross, refunds, and net, and leaves the tax treatment to you or your accountant. > **Why doesn't a refund from a later year reduce last year's deduction?** A refund counts against a purchase only when both fall in the same tax year. A refund you receive this year for something you deducted in an earlier year is listed on its own, in a section for adjustments received this year that relate to a prior year. How to handle it is a question for you or your accountant, so the app surfaces it rather than deciding for you. --- ## About this document This is a markdown mirror of [https://eb.app/learn/taxes-and-deductibles/](https://eb.app/learn/taxes-and-deductibles/). The HTML version is the canonical form. This file exists so AI/LLM tools can ingest the content without HTML parsing.