Can I write off all my DSL charges
Posted By: meohmy on 2008-01-27
In Reply to:
on taxes. I assumed I could, but now somebody is telling me not if I use it for personal stuff that I would have to figure out how much I used it for personal, and how much I used it for work. Of course I wouldn't have DSL if work did not require it, so why should I not be able to write off the whole cost.
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Buy if from your husband. Have him write you a receipt. Write it off completely or
depreciate it over a few years.
Charges
I would really like to see the opinion of some of those who are so upset to see what they would do if they were running a MTSO and what they would charge to the client, pay the transcriptionist, pay for overhead, pay for QA and see what kind of a profit they would make. I have only a small company and still have to take 30% plus type myself to make it worth while to cover the "non billable" hours that I put it. So if you are upset at getting only 9 cents per line what would you do if you ran the company?
charges
 Tapes just switching to digital, depending on their volume 11.5 to 12.5 gross line. I pick up and deliver, cut chart notes apart. But great accounts and would not charge more as don't want to lose them. Gross 55K per year with 6 docs. Put in about 24 - 26 hours per week with delivery, printing, etc. Pay on time, Christmas bonus, and have been with me for 5 to 15 years.
Charges
At least this company is being up front and telling you what they are charging the company and you do not have to wonder what they make off the account. If you are making .975 per line that is pretty good pay for a sub/IC especially if you have the same account/docs, etc and can get down your shortcuts. I am upfront with most of my subs/IC and tell them what portion I take for myself if they ask. Don't hide anything. You do not get rich off of having subs working for you when you pay a fair wage and that is why I expect good quality work.
Patti
Charges
I have done seminars, interviews, and court proceedings as they use a tape recorder or a CD recorder now. I charge a little more than my regular accounts as it is a one time shot but still charge 11 to 13 cents per gross line depending on the difficulty of the tapes/digital file.s
Patti
charges
Even though they pay most of your expenses, our cost of living has gone up. It was hard for me to raise mine but I did and they did not say anything. I try to figure out what I am making an hour and see how that goes. But I hate raising 0.05 per line and so I usually do 1 cent every 2-3 years. I have more expenses that you but still like I said the cost of living still goes up and I am sure that they have raised their rates in the past two years. But again, it all boils down to what you are making per hour and if that is okay with you then keep it and raise it if you are happy. I still charge pretty low according the standards on this board but I make good money per hour and just cannot justify raising it to the 15 to 16 cpl if I am comfortable with what I am making per hour. I am the one that I have to live with.
Patti
PA charges ..
I cannot tell you who might have the information, but I do know that the State of PA charges a tax for MT services. You might want to call their Dept. of Revenue and inquire .. it would not be pleasant to get hit with it down the road and you know that you are then guilty without recourse save for paying!
charges
Lots of time with a speciality you will be able to set up a lot of templates, normals or wharevery you call them as they do the same thing or say the same thing over and over. So with that in mind, I try to figure out what I need to make hourly and figure that out into a cpl. It will be slower at first but as you get going you will make more since you will be used to the docs, etc. I keep my charges lower than a lot but I make enough per hour to cover all my cost. Out here in Oregon there are people charging .15 to .18 cpl but I am still at .115 to .12 cpl and I make good money and have good accounts. But I am also gross line. That is how I started out 18 years ago and have kept it that way and since two of my accounts have been with me for those 18 years they know no difference. Again, look at the big picture and see what you need to make. With all of the Expanders that we have now and the normals, etc. especially for clinic notes and repetitive docs, you can make good money at 11 to 12 cpl. Slower at first but it will get better. Good luck.
Charges
Again more info is needed when asking this question. Need to know gross or character per line, margins, font used,tTAT, etc. Are you contracting with a MTSO company or the insurance company? Sometimes they let you know what they will be paying you. What type of reports? Tapes or voice files? Do you print or send back E-mail or what? Are they interviews or finished reports? You need to get samples of the work, ask a few more questions unless you know the above answers already. But BALLPARK figure would be 0.12 to 0.14 per line but again depends on gross versus cpl and what type of reports. I never quote a price without seeing what I will be typing. Do a search as this subject has come up many, many times. Patti
charges, TAT
Charge for pick up and delivery is in my cpl charge. I do 24 hour TAT. I have a locked briefcase I put the tapes in, in the trunk of the car if I stop anywhere. Not many allow 48 TAT at least to my knowledge. You pick up Friday's tape on Monday and return on Tues.
Charges
I do daily pick up and delivery, print, cut apart chart notes on sticky paper, envelopes, and charge .125 cpl. But this is Oregon and might be a little lower. But I look more at what I am making per hour and I can average 400 to 500 lines per hour depending on how many consults, OPs, that I have. If I suddenly went to .16 cpl I think that they would be looking for someone else. Perhaps not. But I make good money and cannot justify raising it right now. But go for it all they can say is "no, we will look elsewhere". But again figure out what you make per hour and see how that goes. Never did like charging by the page. Good luck, let us know what they say.
Charges
Can you get copies of the templates or a report to see how many lines there are or an approximate time to do a report. Also will you have to retype the templates or will he give them to you? Also you don't know how many he will make minor changes so that could be time consuming. But I would probably do per page or report making sure that you equal out to $20 to $25 per hour. When doing hourly they are always questioning if that time was spent and with page or report, there is no question. But again without actually doing one, you are shooting in the dark for a price and be sure that he knows that the price could change if you find it is more work that it sounds. Like I said, many templates are changed and sometimes that takes time and can screw up an entire report. Good luck.
Charges....sm
Be careful, when you go over bytes that they allow you, they usually charge a per byte used to connect to the internet......and it can get VERY expensive if you use the net a lot.
Line charges
I had this done to me as well. From experience 1) be aware she will dump you. 2) Look for another account. 3) Be the dumper instead of the dumpee. Just go along to get along and get rid of them.
How are other MTs doing phone charges?..sm
With AT&T/SBC telling some of us it will now be 3 or 5 cents per minute because we are a business, how are MTs being able to afford paying anywhere from 400 to 600 per month in phone charges?
How are others doing this? I know i would literally have to take on more work just to pay that bill.
Any feedback on what others do....
Dot
Phone charges
I don't know what anyone else is doing, but I'm contacting Lisa Madigan, Dick Durbin, and Barack Obama. I was told by SBC's business office that I am not a business.
phone charges
But you are using it to generate an income and they will consider that a business. Sorry that is the way that they think -- you are not conducting personal matters but matters to generate an income. Do you deduct your phone charges on your income tax form? This is not the way I think but they way that they think. I do not use my phone anymore than a residential but because I am an independent contractor, I must register as a business and my Comcast cable Internet Provider, my phone line is double that of a residential person -- have been paying double for almost 20 years. They will get every and any penny that they can.
They were federal charges
go to a halfway house first, but I thought surely that the prison could tell me something, if that was the case?! They just said he was out of custody and that's all they could tell me. Thanks for the encouragement...it's appreciated!
AT&T/C-phone charges
My advice, get rid of AT&T, they suddenly, after taking over SBC, wanted to charge me 10 cents per telephone use while using my C-phone, said it was not considered a telephone call, but that data was being sent over line, so, another one bites the dust with them..am now with "WOW" for a 1/3 the cost and is great service.
And do you know charges different according to where you live?
My rates for landline very high as compared to a person I know in smaller town, same thing, theirs was less than 20 and mine more than 40. Asked person at AT&T about this and waa told yes, it does make a difference in the charges.
MTSO charges
I do not believe that no one on this board knows how much is charged - I believe no one wants to say - I think that MTs, either employees or ICs would leave under great numbers if all was known about any MTSO. I knew of one company that charged the client $25 per hour during the week and $27.50 on the weekends - that was to work in-house - some of the MTs were making $17.50 straight - weekday or weekend while others were making $11.00 - so you see - it varies and the MTSO's main concern is how much they are making - not so much what the MT is making - which is why we no longer make the money we used to - plus the outsourcing - but I know that it takes a lot more time to make any money than it used to.
really, that's what offshore charges?
are you kidding??? I work for a hospital in California and get paid 10 cents per 65 character line... i would hope that I am getting paid more than ESL workers!
Appropriate charges for hospital SR editing? SM
As a service owner providing transcription services (medical records, not pathology or radiology) to a large hospital, I was informed recently that the hospital is moving to speech recognition over the next couple of years. I foresee this to be a giant fiasco in general, but my specific question is this… I am wondering about my charges to the hospital and how they will/should be affected? I know the “powers that be” will expect me to lower my per line rate for SR editing (they currently pay 16 cpl for transcription), but I don’t have any idea what is appropriate. Has anyone had experience with such a scenario? Any input will be greatly appreciated.
My vet charges a $5 Prescription writing fee. (nt)
JLG charges $3.00 per minute of dictation.
I was shocked to see that my hospital was paying $3.00 per dictated minute to JLG. As contractors, we only got $1.50 per minute.
And if there were charges filed and case goes
to court then it would be beneficial to have "rape" documented. I still can't believe that anyone thought it was necessary to change the wording.
data processing...medical charges
okay, so I've been doing medical data processing for a clinic for the past four months and the office lifestyle is NOT for me. Does anyone have information on work at home medical billing? I sure would like a nudge in the right direction. Thanks!
OMG - this company only CHARGES 1/cent a line. WTF?
What is this???/!!!!!!!!
 .....quick, shoot them before they multiply!
_______________
http://usatasp.com/
"At a cost of only 1 cent per line, USA Tasp offers a Secure Web Enabled environment, which allows Medical Transcription Service Owner the ability to manage their dictations, transcription, quality of the medical record, invoicing, and payroll.
So, whether you have 5,000 lines per month or 500,000 lines per month, be assured that your cost per line remains the same."
irrelevant what MTSO charges the customer...
as long as you feel the price they pay you is sufficient for you. nuff said.
I don't believe anyone charges 45 cpl. Why would anyone hire them at that rate? Name names or
:+
Charge what the bank or library charges. nm
You can file mail fraud charges, plus contact her
local police/sheriff department and file a claim. It may take you a while to get your money back, if ever, but she may go to jail.
Nickel and dime accounts/misc charges
I do not nickel and dime my accounts to death. What I charge per line covers my time of delivery, printing, cutting apart chart notes, reruns when needed, etc. If you hit them with this charge and that charge they very well could look elsewhere that just gives one price for everything, all included. Simplicity. Sure just like now I scanned a tape to do a STAT H&P for surgery but the doctor did it on the hospital line and did not write it down as he usually does, yes it took me 10 to 15 minutes but will I charge them NO. WHY because yesterday I made $130 in less than two hours on their account and I received my checks one day after invoicing. I invoice on the 25th, receive check today and it was due until the 1st. And also they treat me like one of the team and appreciate what I do. But you do what you need to do but if you keep it simple without all the extra charges, they will like you better. You have to figure your nonbillable time into your rate. Good luck. Patti
Hi, just lately I spoke with a couple of companies who said they re-imbursed for telephone charges..
or supplied "calling cards" for specific accounts -- myself, I am glad to be away from C-phones, I did not have a great fondness for them! Have a good one!
USATasp charges 10 cents per minute for voice & 1/2 cent per line
email to info@usatasp.com and we'll get back to you.
I could switch to DSL but the phone company charges 50 extra a month for being on line for more than
So either way I will have to pay more. I guess no one else here is affected or concerned by this but the article said that other companies would follow suit if Time Warner has success. The article said it would affect the teleworkers who are on line for long periods, not the people who just use cable for reading their email.
honey, it works like this: The MTSO(service) charges the doctor X amount per line or report, and
takes part, gives you the rest. Therefore - the MSTO(or service) decides your pay.
If you are paid 8 cpl, surely you do not believe the service charges the doctor 8 cpl - do you?
yu arr sew write!
I gess yu tolt me. I best be gittin on bak 2 the trailer. Eye dun bin tolt awf bi a jenyus! Yu gut me! Tak to ye after a spell Mrs. Frank. Buy now. Doen't choak awn awl that venum, now, ya hear?
Why would you write someone up
gee that is very encouraging, I have been disciplined even with my current job when I was in the mentor program but not written up !!!!! That style of company is not for me, I should have listened to the posts of how they are sweet and than watch out... I'm sure a lot of people are happy with them they seem to have a lot of employees
I just had to write this....
I am now one week free from my best friend is what I like to call smoking.. This was difficult to give up and for the first time in my life I sat in a nonsmoking section at a restaurant yesterday, I can run a mile, I am alert and awake and feel good, my skin is actually looking younger. I have attempted to quite many many times... The conclusion to this was its my body, I control my body, cigarettes do not control me, I control me, God gives us one body enjoy it, take care of it, REMEMBER ITS YOUR BODY... Sorry if this offends anyone I just needed to voice myself for I feel free for the first time in my Life....
Do you write down your (sm)
job numbers. How do you keep record of work completed each day?
They need to write one about MTs
Synthroid 25 mg --hello? I have to change that one all the time. Or how about clonidine for anxiety? Or one of my personal faves respiratory rate 70, heart rate 16...happens all the time. Ladies give yourselves a pat on the back for fixing and "spotting" all of THEIR mistakes!
to write or not to write
I have always put on my resumes that I have the ability to transcribe foreign accented physicians and never had any comment made about it, so guess it worked for me. The QA part, would state as you suggested, experienced in quality assurance....would look oh so pretty on the resume by all means. Good luck.
You can write off anything you want to, you just have to
be able to document it if you get audited. I would have DSL if I didn't need it for work and my whole family uses the internet so I can't in good faith write it off. Even if I wouldn't have it if not needed for work I'm sure you still use it for personal use.
Why you should write it down
The purpose to keeping a log of everything you do that is not actual transcription, i.e., is not typing to generate lines, is to show you how much time you spend not-working.
This can be a considerable amount of time. It's important to get a handle on it, though, because it goes a long way toward showing you where you can become more efficient.
Awareness of the "not-work" time -- I hesitate to call it wasted, because some of it is purposeful, even if it doesn't generate income -- is necessary if you are to control it.
Nearly everybody pops up out of the seat if it is a difficult dictator. When I code something difficult, I jump right up and find all sorts of errands to run. It's much easier to stay in the seat and stay focused if you are aware that you keep leaping up to run around.
Even taking a sip of coffee takes a few seconds. Looking away to the TV takes a split second here and there. Answering the phone takes a couple more. Pretty soon it's a whole minute, then an hour. If you have one hour a day in non-income-generating activities, if you made $10 per hour, you'd lose $10 a day, $50 a week, $200 a month, $2400 a year. Double that if you made $20 per hour.
:)
Tax write off
Anyone know if we can write off our losses in the stock market last year. I have no clue as I have always made money. I sure my accountant is busy or I would call him. Just curious, as my hubby took a big hit, should have listened to the bunionmeister.  Listen next time hubby. 
We should ALL write them &
tell them why we don't want to be members. Seriously - although the following quote comes to mind: 
I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member - Groucho Marx
Oohhh, I like that. I'm going to write that down!! Thanks!! nm
..
You can only write off the percentage actually used...
for work. Who uses 40% of the space in their house??? I write off 10-15%. You also must use that work area for work only. Come audit time (and it eventually may happen), you will need to show a floorplan of your house and what area is for work exclusively. If you're writing off 40% you will be in deep doo-doo. 
Proper way to write
n/m
You have it write Broke!!!
You are exactly right. Ooooh let me buy that huge TV or put a brand new Lexus in the driveway. please. Christmas is about giving not about receiving and it is not about giving presents. It is our time and our love that is needed most, especially this time of year. We do the same here. Make presents for each other, make the decorations for the tree, donate our time and our money to those who need it. Soup kitchens, Salvation Army, local homeless shelters, etc, etc. We have never "not" been able to afford going crazy on Christmas presents for our own families, but really just never wanted. Our entire family feels it is much more important to spend on those who most need our help. Kudos for you and a very merry Christmas!!!!!!
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