| Home | Community | Message Board |
|
You are not signed in. Sign In New Account | Forum Index Search Posts Trusted Vendors Highlights Galleries FAQ User List Chat Store Random Growery » |

This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.
|
| Shop: |
| |||||||
|
Registered: 06/04/03 Posts: 39,201 Loc: |
| ||||||
|
Hey guys. I've got a ton of questions, and if you can answer any or all of them, I'd really appreciate it. Life events are happening so fast and I'm not sleeping very well, thus impeding my ability to find a good resource for this info. Also been getting conflicting answers on top of my colleagues having a different employment status (distributor, owner, etc).
My accountant is swamped for obvious reasons so I'd appreciate any and all responses. This is all contingent on me having receipts, a personal mileage log, and bills for my records. I have them all. Please no tl;dr. I start Monday. Even if you can answer one question it'd help. ~~~ 1) Is there a cap for writing things off? Or is it category specific? 2) Tools. I'm looking at about $1000 of things like drills, special bits, ratchets, ladders, wrenches, gps geocaching unit, proprietary equipment I have to buy thru company, tool belt/box... Top to bottom. If there's a cap, how much? Any exclusions? They're all very specific tools, not just household things. 3) Can I write off part of my electric bill or part of it? I'm gonna be charging four lithium batteries for my drill and compression wrench 5-6 nights a week. Gonna be a LOT of power. I will also have to charge my gps car unit, gps locator unit and laptop. How does this work? I have a year's worth of electric bills, so finding out the kilowatt usage difference wouldn't be hard. 4) Cell phone. I need one for solely for work. We currently have two personal cells and need to add a third. Also going to have to upgrade plans to unlimited. Do I write off our whole bill? Or, the new cell phone unit cost and a third of the bill? 5) Technology. I need a laptop, gps for my car, gps locator unit for the satellite, a printer/fax/copier and other such things for this job only. Is there a cap or some things I can't write off? 6) Clothing. I bought winter gear in December 2010 banking on a landscaping job but didn't get it. I need it for this job (it's still hitting the -30's Fahrenheit). Can I use that receipt for 2011 taxes even tho it's dated 2010? 7) Vehicle. I'm trading in my car for a work van/truck. I may have to pay $500-$1000. It's a necessity since my sedan would never carry equipment, tools and the actual dishes. It will be around $4,000. Do I write off $4000, or just the amount I pay after my trade-in? 7a) What about the cost of registration and plates? 7b) What about my car insurance? We'd be using my wife's Nissan for personal travel since we're very, very far in the boonies. 8) Travel & mileage. Am I better off keeping gas receipts or logging miles? My accountant said my state does $0.50 cents per mile reimbursement. If I get 15mpg and absolutely theoretically have to pay over $7.50/gal, then I won't be getting reimbursed fully. I know it may never reach that, but what's better? 9) Phone land line. We have no need for one. However, I now need to get it so I can fax paperwork to my boss and to my company to receive payment and confirm installations. It's time sensitive on Wed/Sun at 4pm sharp. Do I just write off my whole telephone bill and cost of installation? 9a) Internet. I need internet to get service bulletins, information, email, training modules, etc. from the company. Can I write this off? It's a basic package just for web surfing, job hunting, email, etc. I only got it for this job. 10) Training. I had to travel over 600 miles round trip to the twin cities, stay at a hotel, and take an 8 hour course to get my certification. Can I write off the miles, hotel, and certification class? $100 gas, $100 class, $100 hotel. 10a) Can I write off training mileage? I've been going to job sites to do hands-on and have clocked over 400 so far. 11) Should I setup a separate bank account? 12) Roughly what percent should I set aside to pay tax year 2011? Any other tips, hints or tricks would be greatly appreciated in this endeavor. It's quite a bit of new territory if you couldn't tell. If you'd be so kind to put an answer beneath each number that'd be A+. I'm an absolute noob to any of this. Thanks everyone, Dystopia
| |||||||
|
Armed with hammers Registered: 04/07/09 Posts: 5,561 Loc: Woody Creek |
| ||||||
|
I'm sorry that this post won't really address your questions but I think that you should really see a tax professional.
There are so many variables to the tax code that it would be hard for anyone short of a CPA to address all of your issues. If you have all of your receipts, that is a good thing but initially it would be advantageous for you to talk to someone who will put you on the right track and help you know how and what to organize. If you are in crisis mode because it is this years due taxes that are staring you down then you really must consult a professional imho. The only other thing that I would say is that I'm sure that if there is a forum dedicated to all things mycology, then there must be forums dedicated to things tax. ![]() Sorry that I can't address your questions but I hope that you get the right advice and don't end up with a headache from taking the wrong advice. G.L. -------------------- "Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." H.T. I've come to believe that the heart is the filter of the enlightened mind. Epilson Lyrae
| |||||||
|
horrid asshole Registered: 02/11/04 Posts: 81,741 Loc: Fractallife's gy Last seen: 7 years, 7 months |
| ||||||
Quote: I don't think so. Quote: 100% deductible. Quote: That's probably reasonable. Also an IRS flag. What are we talking here, a couple hundred dollars? Might want to reconsider just because the dollar amount to you is not enough to want to cause an alert. Quote: Get a completely separate account and write 100% of that off. Quote: I don't think so. Those are all legit business expenses. Quote: No. Quote: The whole 4000, the cost of registration, any insurance, everything write off. With one exception. The vehicle may have to be depreciated over a few years, i.e. take 1,000 for each of 4 years. Also any maintenance and repairs are also write offs. Quote: Do the receipts. That way you can write off the maintenance I mentioned above. Quote: Iffy Quote: Yes Quote: Iffy. Quote: You must. You must get a taxpayer ID for the sole proprietorship or whatever you set up. You have to register a business to get any of those write offs, Quote: You will have to make estimated quarterly tax payments. 15% will cover just soc sec and medicare. The rest of the percentage is based on how much profit you anticipate. Quote: Lease the vehicle. Quote: Your welcome
| |||||||
|
Armed with hammers Registered: 04/07/09 Posts: 5,561 Loc: Woody Creek |
| ||||||
|
zappaisgod may in fact be just that, because that's as close as I would have come to answering the questions myself.
-------------------- "Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." H.T. I've come to believe that the heart is the filter of the enlightened mind. Epilson Lyrae
| |||||||
|
Stranger Registered: 11/02/10 Posts: 6 Last seen: 12 years, 9 months |
| ||||||
Quote: Hey, I am actually in my senior year of college (accounting major), and I work at an accounting firm (have been for two years). I am assuming you usually file a schedule C along with your tax returns? You are an independent contractor? And you receive 1099-MISC's from the people you do work for? I actually have to go to work right now, so I didn't have time to read your entire post. This is the first time I checked out the money sub-forum, and I am actually surprised this is here (very very cool that it is thought). To answer a few of your questions: If you are filing a schedule C, the only limitation you really have for expenses has to do with the questionable deductibility of meals and entertainment, and expenses related to use of your vehicle (to the extent that it is used in your business activities). You can fully deduct your utility bills (the returns I do usually deduct their whole bills, even though they obviously didn't use every mW on their business activities). I just wanted to throw it out there that I am basically an accountant, and I am very familiar with your situation (every return I do usually has at least one schedule C). So please PM me if you would like some of my advice, I would really like to apply my knowledge to help someone here on the shroomery...it's about all I have to offer! I will check this post out during the day if I am able to, if not I'll check back when I'm home.
| |||||||
|
Registered: 05/31/07 Posts: 17,582 Loc: Americas |
| ||||||
|
Hey man, besides the input others can give, I'd suggest actually going about and filling out this years tax return as if you were doing so for your expected expenses and returns after a year. That way you can see for yourself all the little categories and rules that the forms themselves have, and will run into any of the cautionary notes that are included.
This will hopefully get you thinking about the major compliance issues. The biggest thing to worry about would be simply having reliable ways of seperating household from buisness expenses. If you keep good records and can reliably distinguish between these things, then I'd guess you to be pretty good. For example: while I'd agree with zappan that you'd have no problem writing off electricity expenses, the obvious problem is determining the amount to write off. If they look at you, how are you going to explain how much you've written off? Something like the $20-30 current and voltmeters they sell online and at big stores might be useful: they generally have an outlet with some simple menus that track energy consumption. Besides allowing you to quantify your expense, it might help justify your writeoffs. Just make sure the device can take the max current you'd need to draw.
| |||||||
|
Registered: 06/04/03 Posts: 39,201 Loc: |
| ||||||
|
Thanks for all of the responses everybody.
I finally got in touch with my accountant and every response in this thread is 95% accurate. I can keep a single bank account with the stipulation that I'm 100% OCD and already have a log with dates/times and a backup log ![]() Ended up buying a trackphone or whatever these little tossers are. She said it'd be difficult distinguishing phone calls or finding a percentage to write off the cell. In example, how would we differentiate my wife's phone, my phone, and my work phone - half of the bill, half of the bill minus the upgraded plan, etc. Mileage and receipts are best, she said. At a certain point one may be worth more than another if the tax laws change from $0.50 to $0.60 or more per mile. If my gas costs more, I don't get shorted. This matters mostly when you're commuting very far like I am. You can write off mileage for simply going to work every day if it's just 10 miles round trip. If your job pays you for mileage you can double dip. At my last job, the company paid me $0.30 per mile for business and I was able to write off $0.50 per mile on my taxes as well. Just to clarify, not to-and-from since I was an employee. As far as electric - we have a yearly comparison. I will be working 7 days a week so there will be a noticeable difference, which just gets averaged out and written off by kwh. She said some clothing will be a writeoff due to the nature of the state. Buying a dress shirt for an office job is far different than breathable thermals for -50 degree gusts, for example. Obviously something not to go overboard on. State laws vary I assume. Training mileage, courses, hotel, certification, etc is all deductible. It's the means in which one prepares for a job and is a deduct if person performs said job. Different than, say, sitting down and watching training videos for Shenanigan's. As long as I'm doing the physical work to learn, then yes, all of it. I'm playing it safe since this will be the first year I've ever done anything like this. My boss and coworkers who have been doing this for years have 90% of their electric and all of their phones for the families and shit written off. I just don't wanna face the "A" word next year. Thanks for all of the replies and I hope those coupled with my accountant's advice helps people in the future. I figured I'd chop my dick off before I said zappaisgod was right, but he was pretty damn spot on for everything. Thanks man, and all. Cheers, D
| |||||||
|
horrid asshole Registered: 02/11/04 Posts: 81,741 Loc: Fractallife's gy Last seen: 7 years, 7 months |
| ||||||
Quote: ![]() zappaisgod has been a contractor for 25 years.
| |||||||
| |||||||
| Shop: |
|
| Similar Threads | Poster | Views | Replies | Last post | ||
![]() |
Cryptocurrency: A Discussion on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Related Projects ( |
250,370 | 10,004 | 01/29/24 10:44 PM by ManianFH | ||
![]() |
Does this look legit? | 1,559 | 1 | 03/01/10 02:43 PM by geokills | ||
![]() |
Gold -- Here's 45 financial experts who claim it will soon go way over the $1.000 mark! ( |
16,024 | 53 | 02/10/08 09:16 AM by Caribou_Lou | ||
![]() |
Gold going to the next level???? | 1,231 | 12 | 09/19/08 05:41 AM by pothead_bob | ||
![]() |
Is gold a worthy investment? | 622 | 11 | 03/17/18 02:11 PM by Adden | ||
![]() |
ICO Talk ( |
2,822 | 34 | 02/23/18 10:40 AM by sh4d0ws |
| Extra information | ||
| You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled Moderator: geokills, automan 2,802 topic views. 0 members, 1 guests and 1 web crawlers are browsing this forum. [ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ] | ||





