Tax deductions

[The Thing on The Sticks]

Well everybody it’s getting close to tax time and much to my surprise I earned way more than I spent last year. I know that there have been some great threads here about tax deductions in the past. But that was before the forum changed over and I have had trouble accessing threads from that far back. So anyways after sitting down with my accountant, she has basically told me that I really should find more stuff to deduct. And before anybody says it yes she gave me a bunch of things but I want to make sure that there is nothing I have not thought of or that I should avoid. Because I know we all love the thought of an audit.


Geoff

[Hiding Under Here]

I don't know exactly what you're asking. But let me wade in and offer my two cents regardless....

Tax season doesn't start now. It started January 1, 2007. I am hardly the most organized fellow in the world. But when it comes to tax deductions, I document everything. When I buy something out of pocket -- like a dimmer at Home Depot -- I save the recipt and put it in an envelope on my desk. When I pay bills by check, the checking ledger acts as a defacto receipt. When I pay by credit card, obviously the monthly bill is the receipt.

When I go to assemble the information for my taxes, I have some work to do. (I can just hear the Quicken crowd laughing at me as I describe this torturous process. But, hey, it's how I roll.) I go through the check ledger and itemize those business expenses. I comb through the credit card bill and pull out the relevant payments there. Then I go to my envelopes and I account for the smaller purchases. In the end, I come up with the following items for deductions:

1. Freelance labor
2. Rentals
3. Purchases --large and small
4. Monthly expenses -- Health insurance, equipment insurance, cell phone
5. Miscellaneous expenses -- Office supplies, stamps, FedEx
6. Repairs
7. Truck expenses -- insurance, repair, tolls, parking fuel
8. Travel expenses -- anything I get 1009'd for
9. Retirement contribution
10. Business promotion -- website, internet listings, business cards
11. Union dues

Now the turkey is down to the bones. If I have missed anything, it's relatively minor.