Small business tax planning is the work you do during the year to change what you owe at the end of it. Filing is just the paperwork that reports decisions you already made. By April, almost everything is locked: the van was bought or it wasn’t, the miles were logged or they weren’t, the retirement contribution went in or it didn’t.
For an owner who delivers their own orders, that distinction is worth money, because the biggest deductible costs in the business are the ones that move every day: miles, fuel, driver hours, a vehicle that wears out. They’re also the easiest to lose track of. This guide covers the planning calendar for a business with a delivery operation: which costs to capture as they happen, when to buy a vehicle, and how to set estimated payments so a good quarter doesn’t turn into a surprise bill. The cash side of that bill, making sure the money is there on the date it’s due, is covered in our guide to small business cash flow management with delivery costs in the mix.
One note before the details: tax rules change, and the right answer depends on your entity, your state and your numbers. Treat this as a planning checklist to take to your accountant, not as tax advice.
The Bottom Line
- A delivery van bought and put into service before December 31 can usually be written off in full this year. For 2026 the Section 179 limit is $2,560,000 with a dollar-for-dollar phase-out above $4,090,000, and 100% bonus depreciation applies to qualifying property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025 (Section179.org, 2026).
- The IRS standard mileage rate changed mid-year: 72.5 cents per business mile through June 30, 2026, then 76 cents from July 1 (Journal of Accountancy). Your log needs to be split at that date.
- The 20% qualified business income deduction no longer expires. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act repealed its 2025 sunset and widened the phase-in range, which makes multi-year planning around it worth doing (Warren Averett).
- You avoid underpayment penalties by paying 90% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s, or 110% if your prior-year AGI was over $150,000. Pick the safe harbor in January, not in April.
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What small business tax planning does that filing cannot
Tax planning is the set of decisions you make while the year is still open: when to buy, when to invoice, how to pay yourself, which retirement account to fund, and which records to keep so a deduction survives a question.
Four of those decisions do most of the work in a delivery-heavy business:
- What you capture: every mile and fuel receipt that isn’t recorded is a deduction you paid for and didn’t claim.
- When you buy: the same van is a deduction this year or next year depending on the date it goes into service.
- How income and expenses land across the calendar: cash-basis businesses can pull expenses into this year or push invoices into next.
- What you prepay: estimated taxes, retirement contributions and health insurance all have deadlines that don’t wait for your filing.
None of those are available in April. All of them are available now.
The delivery costs owners most often fail to capture
Ask an owner what delivery costs them and you’ll usually hear fuel and driver pay. The deductible list is longer, and the missing items are rarely large enough to notice individually, which is why they add up.
- Business miles, including the drive between two customer stops and trips to a supplier, recorded with date, mileage and purpose.
- Tolls and parking, which are deductible separately even if you use the standard mileage rate.
- Vehicle insurance, registration, maintenance and repairs on a vehicle used for the business.
- Cold chain and packaging bought for transport: coolers, ice packs, insulated bags, boxes, tape, labels.
- Route planning and dispatch software, phone plans for drivers, and the portion of your own phone used for the business.
- Driver wages and the payroll taxes on them, or amounts paid to a delivery provider.
- Failed deliveries and spoilage written off as a business loss, which needs a record at the time, not a reconstruction later.
The habit that protects all of this is boring: photograph receipts the week they happen and keep the mileage log continuously. Records built after the fact are the first thing that falls apart under examination.
Standard mileage rate or actual vehicle expenses: how to choose
Both methods deduct the cost of driving; they just measure it differently. You pick per vehicle, and one of the two choices locks that vehicle in for as long as you own it, so getting it right the first time matters.
| Standard mileage rate | Actual expenses | |
|---|---|---|
| What you track | Miles, dates, purpose | Every vehicle receipt, plus business-use percentage |
| 2026 rate | 72.5 cents per mile to June 30, then 76 cents | Not applicable |
| Usually better for | Newer, efficient, high-mileage vehicles | Older or heavy vans, expensive repairs, low annual mileage |
| Depreciation | Built into the rate | Claimed separately, including Section 179 or bonus depreciation |
| Flexibility later | Can generally switch to actual in later years | Once you claim accelerated depreciation on a vehicle, you cannot use the standard rate for it later |
The practical rule: if you claim Section 179 or bonus depreciation on a van, you have committed that vehicle to the actual-expense method for as long as you own it, so keep every receipt for it from day one. For a personal car doing occasional drops, the standard rate is usually simpler and often larger.
Because the 2026 rate changed on July 1, the same log has to be totalled twice this year: miles through June 30 at 72.5 cents, and miles from July 1 at 76 cents.
Timing a van or equipment purchase for the deduction you want
Two provisions let you deduct the cost of a vehicle or equipment in year one instead of spreading it over several years.
Section 179 lets you expense qualifying property up to $2,560,000 in 2026, phasing out dollar for dollar once total qualifying purchases pass $4,090,000. It is limited by your business income: it can take taxable income down to zero, but it cannot create a loss.
Bonus depreciation covers the remaining basis at 100% for qualifying property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made that permanent rather than letting it phase down (Section179.org, 2026).
Three timing details decide whether this works for you:
- Placed in service, not paid for: the vehicle has to be in use for the business by December 31. Ordering in December and taking delivery in January moves the whole deduction into next year.
- Vehicle type changes the cap. Heavy trucks and cargo vans over 6,000 lbs GVWR can qualify for full expensing, while SUVs between 6,000 and 14,000 lbs are capped at $32,000 of first-year Section 179, with the rest depreciated normally.
- The deduction is worth more in a high-income year. If this year was strong and next year looks thin, buying now is worth more than buying in January. If this year was weak, Section 179’s income limit may waste part of it.
This is the decision where planning beats filing most clearly. It is a phone call in November, not a discovery in March.
How quarterly estimated taxes get set when your season swings
Estimated taxes are due four times a year: April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15 for the previous year. Miss them and the penalty applies even if you pay in full at filing.
There are three ways to stay safe:
- Pay 90% of this year’s expected tax. Accurate, but it requires a forecast you trust.
- Pay 100% of last year’s tax, split across four payments. Simple, and safe regardless of how this year turns out.
- Pay 110% of last year’s tax if your prior-year adjusted gross income was over $150,000. Same logic, higher multiple.
For a seasonal business, option two or three is usually the sane choice, because it fixes your payment in January and removes the guesswork. Cash timing is the problem: a florist paying equal quarterly instalments is sending the same amount in July as in February, on very different revenue. Set the money aside as it comes in, a fixed percentage of every deposit moved to a separate account each week, so the September payment isn’t competing with driver payroll.
If your income is lumpy, ask your accountant about the annualized income instalment method, which lets you pay more in your strong quarters and less in the slow ones. It’s more paperwork, and for a catering or wholesale business with a heavy Q4 it usually pays off.
The 20% qualified business income deduction after the 2025 law change
If your business is a sole proprietorship, partnership, S corporation or LLC taxed as one of those, you may deduct up to 20% of qualified business income. The provision was scheduled to expire at the end of 2025; the One Big Beautiful Bill Act repealed that sunset and widened the phase-in range, so it is now a permanent part of the code (Warren Averett).
Two planning implications follow:
- Multi-year moves are safe again. Decisions that trade a deduction this year for a larger one next year no longer risk the provision disappearing in between.
- Taxable income is the lever. The deduction narrows above certain income thresholds, so retirement contributions, equipment timing and how you pay yourself from an S corporation all interact with it. That interaction is specific enough to your numbers that it’s worth an hour with a CPA rather than a rule of thumb.
A year-round tax planning calendar for a delivery operation
Most of the value here comes from doing small things on time. This is the cycle:
January to March. Choose your estimated tax safe harbor for the year based on last year’s return. Set the weekly percentage you’ll move into a tax account. Confirm your mileage log is running from January 1. File any contractor and payroll reporting on time.
April to June. First two estimated payments. Review whether the year is tracking above or below last year, because that tells you whether a purchase later in the year will be worth more or less.
July to September. Reset your mileage rate if it changed mid-year, as it did in 2026. Third estimated payment. Start the vehicle and equipment conversation: what does the fleet need, and what will it cost to run it another year rather than replace it?
October to November. Project the year’s income with two months still open, and decide what to accelerate or defer: a van placed in service before December 31, repairs and maintenance done now, supplies bought ahead, a retirement plan funded or established.
December. Execute. Take delivery of anything you intended to place in service. Reconcile receipts, close out the mileage log, write off dead inventory and unrecoverable spoilage. Decide whether to invoice a large December order now or on January 2.
January 15. Final estimated payment for the prior year, then the cycle restarts.
Frequently asked questions
When should small business tax planning happen?
Continuously for recordkeeping, and concentrated in October and November for decisions. That window gives you a reliable income projection with enough of the year left to act on it. Anything after December 31 is filing, not planning.
Can I deduct the cost of delivering my own products?
Yes. Costs of getting goods to customers are ordinary business expenses: vehicle costs by either method, driver wages and payroll taxes, packaging and cold-chain supplies, tolls and parking, and amounts paid to an outside delivery provider. What’s needed is contemporaneous records tying each cost to the business.
Is it better to buy a van in December or January?
December, if this year’s income is high and you want the deduction now. The vehicle has to be in service by December 31 though, not merely ordered. January is better if next year looks stronger, or if this year’s income is too low for Section 179 to absorb the full amount.
Do I need a CPA for small business tax planning?
You can keep the records and run the calendar yourself. The decisions worth paying for are entity choice, how you pay yourself, the interaction between the QBI deduction and retirement contributions, and any year with a large purchase in it. One planning meeting in the autumn usually pays for itself.
What happens if I underpay quarterly estimates?
The IRS charges an underpayment penalty calculated by quarter, so paying the shortfall in April does not undo a missed June payment. Choosing a prior-year safe harbor and paying it on schedule is the simplest way to avoid the issue entirely.
Start with this year’s two decisions
Pull last year’s return and work out your safe harbor number, then divide it by four and set up the transfers. That single step removes the most common tax surprise in a small business.
Then look at your vehicles before the end of October. If one is due for replacement and this year has been strong, the difference between buying in December and buying in February is a deduction’s worth of tax at your own rate. Same van, priced differently by the calendar.
