Why are business expenses deductible from income, but someone’s basic living expenses aren’t deductible from personal income?

Question

Why are business expenses deductible from income, but someone’s basic living expenses aren’t deductible from personal income?

In: Economics

Answer 1

Mortgage payments, tuition payments, money paid toward certain healthcare expenses, certain retirement savings and a ton of other things are deductible from your taxable income. Even if you don’t have the time to substantiate any of these things you can just claim a standard deduction.