Tax Deductible Expenses
Posted By: Terri on 2006-04-10
In Reply to: Any help on form 8829*Expenses for Business Use of your Home would be greatly - appreciated !
We ran a business for years from our home. As far as I know, you can take the base rate of your telephone bill as an expense (which includes FCC taxes) and any long distance calls related directly to the business. As for Home Owners Insurance, you can take 7% of the insurance because you use 7% of your home for your business. Also, anything related to the business such as equipment, paper, tapes or special software programs can be taken as well. If you have to travel to deliver the finished reports, I believe the rate is 28 cents a mile. If you travel, you can also deduct any maintenance on your vehicle. Hope this helps. 
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home office expenses are still deductible if you are an employee - nm
x
I have 5,000 deductible
It's more or less catastrophic insurance, however, when I was formerly covered on my job there was a fairly high deductible also. Anyway, I am 53 years old and my premium is 120.00 a month. It's through Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. You can bring up lots of insurance information via the internet that does comparisons of different plans and costs based on your age.
Only 50%, 1/2 of SS is deductible
You only deduct 50% of your SS as you are paying that much. Look at your 1040, deudction is 50% of what you paid on your net income on scheudle C.
IMO no, trip is not tax deductible at all. (nm)
x
Only way trip is deductible is if it is
Like if you are going to an MT seminar or traveling to meet a new client, etc. Working while on vacation doesn't count since you aren't required to work from that location.
When it IS business related, you have to have receipts and legitimate paperwork proving it is work related and that you spent time conducting business. A trip expense like that would be a red flag to the IRS to audit you, so you darn well better have excellent documentation.
Taxes are deductible and it does help out at the end of the year.
Be sure to try to get fixed. I have 7.5 fixed for 30. They do have 40 yr mtgs now. And you can always refinance if your financial picture changes. When I moved into my home, i had no cable, a junky car and ate like a poor person. Once, to make my mtg, during a really rough time, i sold my bedroom suite. Keeping the roof over our heads is #1 priority. You sound like someone responsible enough to do this. Would you qualify for this loan on your own? Getting his name on this house might not be smart thing to do during these rocky times?
and don't forget the other 7.5% is deductible off of your income nm
nm
you have it backwards, if you don't go to the doc get a high deductible
having a high deductible will really cut down on your premiums. Say you rarely see the doctor and don't have prescriptions. An 80/20 plan with a $5000 deductible can run you as little as $59 a month, and that has a $500 out of pocket. I have Assurant Health (formerly Fortis), for myself and the kids. For $5000 family deductible we pay about $3000. So the most we will pay in a year is $8000. But at my husband's last job, we were supposed to pay all of the premium for family coverage and they would pay for his coverage. Premiums were going to be $9000. Add a $500 deductible to that and 20% which would probably run another $2000, and a catastrophic illness for one person would be $11,500. $11500 is a lot more than $8000, plus with the Assurant Health plan that is our FAMILY deductible. With the group plan, if one more person got sick, it started all over again with their own deductible. So you have to do the math. Individual coverage for all 4 of us will run us $5300/yr, that is, if they agree to insure my husband. If you have ANYTHING at all, individual insurance will not take you. So keep that in mind too. Insurance is the reason why somebody in the family should have a "real" job :)
depends on age, health, deductible, etc
Too many variables but figure on $350 to $500 depending on the above. All you have to do is do a search on medical insurance coverage in your area and find out.
only one office is deductible -- color coding
I use color coding and have done so from day 1. Have 7 docs and they all have their own color for tapes, letter head, returned dictation, binder etc. They are no longer names, they are blue/green/yellow/red/purple/clear and yellow/green. That is the only way I keep their things separate and for sure know who to deliver to what. Am of the old school and this works for me. Also have a monthly board that I keep track of their tapes and time off and that is also color coded.
Only one office is deductible otherwise you could call your entire home an office.
If you can get it, do an individual account with a high deductible...sm
but in order to get individual insurance, you have to have NO medical problems. They even put a rider on my son's ADD. Premiums for me and my two kids (husband has ins through work) run about $3800 a year, and we have a $5000 family deductible. Worse case scenario, some one gets sick and it costs us $8800. Premiums for family ins through DH's work were $9000 - sick or not. Good luck. I agree - the insurance lobbied that sucker through.
I work for a national, $600 yearly deductible and 15-30 copay
nm
Rules state anything not reimbursed by employer deductible.
/
I have no expenses except to buy my
computer, desk and chair, which after time becomes a wash and are nominal expenses. All my references are online paid for by the company (all Stedman electronic word books, my free personal subscription to Monthly Prescribing Reference, etc.)
Maybe you can cut your expenses? sm
If you are using telephones for dictation, maybe switch to handheld units? Or use a TASP to save money on calls? Use the Internet more to cut down on expenses. Hope this helps. If you can, keep your clients. They are hard to come by nowadays.
Husband's plan has no deductible, just copay and pays just straight up to 12 visits a year.
I do have a high deductible for mine, I think $5000 but the important thing to me is that I only pay $35 office visit copay. The deductible only kicks in on lab, x-ray etc.. and I have prescription coverage. The other thing you have to consider, as I also work in a physician's office doing medical billing, is that there are substantial contractual adjustments if you are with a BC plan. Say, your bill is $100 and the "allowable" from the insurance company is $75, that means that your doctor's office has to adjust off the extra $25 and you are not responsible for that; whereas, if you had no insurance, you'd have to pay the whole $100 out of your own pocket, no discount there.
Remember that's $40 before all expenses. nm
x
Medical expenses
January, 2000 - DH tore rotator cuff, needed MRI/arthrogram, followed by rotator cuff repair.
January, 2001 - I had foot surgery in podiatrist's office.
January, 2002 - DH had cervical MRI/myelogram, followed by anterior cervical diskectomy with fusion, two levels.
January, 2003 - DH had knee MRI, followed by arthroscopy.
January, 2004 - I had LASIK surgery.
OMYGOSH, it's almost January again! 
Why not just add it to your business expenses? nm
x
You can still deduct your MT expenses if your and IC - sm
regardless of taking the standard deduction. Your write offs for MT are on the Schedule C (not B). My husband and I take the standard deduction as we don't have enough on our Sch. B; then I write off all my IC deductions and report my income on the Sch. C.; putting the bottom line (income minus IC write-offs) on the 1040 line 12. So I am not quite clear on what you are talking about but I know how I do it is how most of us (if not all) do our deductions. You may want to do an amended return.
Taxes, Expenses
I would have internet anyway; now I get to write it off. I would have long distance anyway; now I get to write it off. Everyone pays taxes and insurance, it is just a matter of who is doing the bookkeeping. Walmart STARTS at $8/hour and then when they pay all that same stuff they are really making $5- $6. You can write off ALL your health insurance, a portion of your utilities and the area you work in, computer, software, and other supplies.....save on gas (this is HUGE right now), work clothes, make up, day care, and and and. There's always more than one way to view something.
Also, are these figures before tax/expenses or after? sm
Some ICs might be quoting their pay before taxes and expense deductions, which isn't their ACTUAL pay for the year. If someone has their own accounts and says they bring in $50K per year, that's possible, but probably not the amount they receive free and clear.
I find it hard to believe anyone makes that much free and clear unless they are working 12 hours a day, every day, and pulling in a significantly high per-line rate. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I base this opinion on the fact that I make a very good line rate, type over 100 wpm for easy accounts I've had for years, and still don't bring in that kind of money free and clear. I come close with my gross income, but after taxes and expenses, it's only about 65% of that! And I work 9-10 hours a day with only one week of vacation per year.
Come to think of it, that's pretty sad when I see it on paper. LOL I'm going to go look for a new line of work now.
What is the cost of your living expenses? sm
I would really like to know this as mine seem high. My cost for the bare minimum, not including insurance, medical costs or entertainment, is about $1,800.00 per month.
Is that high to most people? TIA.
$350 a month for my share of expenses.
z
get a credit card just for your IC expenses
it will keep all your expenses in one place and you won't need to keep receipts, just the credit card statements. Other than that, track mileage, though to be frank most people will just claim an average mileage and then create a mileage journal if audited. Also if you will take the home office deduction, you can claim percentage of heating, etc. but easy enough to do that. Might be worth your while to consult with a CPA if you take the IC job, and then the first year that you do your taxes. He can explain everything you need and then you can take it from there. Just one or two more forms to fill out, nothing earth-shattering.
Poll: Earnings vs Expenses
1. What are your monthly earnings -- just you (no spousal income) -- doesn't matter how many jobs....monthly earnings?
2. Do you work more than one job?
3. What is your base line rate? If you have more than 1 job, list all base rates.
4. Now what is the minimum bring-home pay you need to survive each month? This is your housing, energy, transportation, insurances, food -- what you have to have to make it.
5. What's the difference? Are you in the hole? Got surplus? Breaking even?
My answers:
1. About $3100 each month.
2. One job.
3. $0.095 cpl plus some incentive bonus each month.
4. $2287 gets everything paid. Savings and pocket money not included in that figure.
5. Surplus but not much. Trying to save as much as possible and have a few greenbacks in my wallet each week.
Was told could deduct pet expenses. sm.
If it is a dog and is over 50 pounds, you can claim its food, vet bills, pet insurance, vaccinations all that as long as your business is run from your home. It applies as a guard dog. It does not matter which breed the dog is either. This is the state of Missouri, not sure about other states.
I am gonna try it as we shelled out alot of money over a period of time for a dog that was poisoned. Luckily, he lived.
WORK-AT-HOME EXPENSES JUST AS MUCH - sm
as if I were working outside the home, if not more. The only thing I would spend money on an outside job would be the $4.00 daily bus fare. I have more than enough clothes for work, no problem there, maybe lunch or can brown-bag. The company pays the office space, light, electricity, internet, cable, AIR CONDITIONING in summer (imp.)
On the other hand, even as an employee, I am not reimbursed for my high-speed, HIGH-COST cable/DSL/telephone I need to make these few cents a line, electric costs, lights, AC BILL JUMPS WHEN SITTING AT PC ALL DAY IN SUMMER, buy my own office supplies, books, references.
Just another mind sc---ing they give you by telling you it's cheaper to work at home. (I have no kids).  
6 months of expenses "tucked/socked" away? No way. sm
I am the owner of a small transcription company. We have 50 transcriptionists. We invoice $150,000 per month. Our payroll, taxes, manager salaries, postage, bank fees, overhead, etc run approximately $140,000 per month. That means that we should have $840,000 tucked away somewhere. No way. We depend on our customers to pay. Our employees are paid on time and paid a decent rate. Our bills are paid. To say that someone needs 6 months of expenses put away is unrealistic and naive. Where did I attend school? For undergrad, University of Michigan, for graduate school, Northwestern University, with a master's degree in Business Management and a Bach degree in Finance. The rule of thumb is to have one payroll worth of cash on hand or a line of credit available equal to that amount.
It's really annoying that people can toss out comments like that, stating them as if they were fact, without any basis of fact. Most companies do not have close to a million dollars lying around. If they do, it is foolish.
I also took home office expenses as an employee, but --
You can only get any good out of it if you are also a homeowner with a lot of mortgage interest or have a lot of medical expenses, etc., that would make it higher than the standard deduction.
deducting home office expenses -
For the home office expense - You would measure the amount of space you actually use to work (your desk area) and figure the percentage of that square footage to your total square footage. Then you would use that percentage of your utilities costs, etc., to count on your taxes.
I got into this because it paid more money and I didn't have daycare expenses.
I have more time for a social life now that I work at home. I go to lunch or coffee with family and friends. I used to run errands on my lunch half-hour at my old job and either pay my bills or balance my checkbook on my breaks. I know all the other parents at the school now, so we get together on weekends or chitchat at the school. When I used to work outside the home, I was so exhausted from dealing with crabby people all day long that I just wanted to isolate myself at home on evenings and weekends. Now that I work at home, I actually seek out friends to keep from getting isolated.
You could take him to small claims to get expenses and pain and suffering.
:+
Need help with calculating expenses for bid on large account. At the moment I do not know *sm*
how many lines they dictate per day/week. I am going to call the person who sent me the bid forms and ask. I do not have my own call-in system and would be using a TASP. Can someone tell me that currently uses a TASP how to go about figuring my costs in so that I do not under bid. I know that each dictator and the type of report is going to vary but on an average what would you say? Bottom line is I need to know how many cents per line I need to charge to cover the call-in system and my other expenses. Another thing they listed in the bid is that the vendor is to provide all other supplies including plain paper to complete each assignment. The hospital will provide any special letterhead, envelopes, etc. How do you provide the paper and probably the toner if you are doing this remotely? Would there be any other expenses that would fall under other supplies that you can think of other than toner and paper? How much toner and paper do I provide or should I ask the hospital what they use on a weekly basis? I would assume I have the right to ask questions as to how much paper, toner, how many lines they do each day or week on average. I want this account very much but I do not want to have to pay a cheap line rate and I need to make this worth my while. Thank you very much for you help.
One thing also - keep all your receipts of any business related expenses
I have a folder and everytime I buy anything related to work whether it be a pen, a printer ribbon, a book, a keyboard, etc. I put in that folder. Those things add up and they are all deductible which comes off of your gross. This is in addition to the home use of your office. A statutory IC is a great way to go because you don't have to pay the entire social security but you are still IC and can utilize the business deductions. If you pay your own health insurance and it is in your name that is also deductible. Keep good records...this is the most important I have learned being an IC. Also you will probably have to file quarterly if you make over a certain amount. If you don't you will be penalized by IRS and have to pay the penalty fee with your April 15th filing. And also remember to figure your state taxes for the year. However it does depend on your personal situation and if you file jointly with your husband that may change things. Good luck.
Personally I think IC is great but unless you have some really good deductions you can end up paying a lot in taxes . If you have to pay your own social security at 15% and you were taxed at 20% rate for federal and let's say 6% for state you would be paying 41% of your income in taxes which is no fun. But you only pay on your net income and not your gross so it sort of comes out in the wash.
My cost of living expenses monthly is $2200/month
I'm self employed, so I'm killed in taxes AND I live in NY...but I wouldn't have it any other way
I LOVE NEW YORK!!!!
Any help on form 8829*Expenses for Business Use of your Home would be greatly
Hi All,
I was a statutory employee last year but not now. I usually do my own taxes but am having trouble with form 8829 and am not sure if the accountant can squeeze me in at this late date. Thought I would try here first for help. I use my den exclusively for work (almost) and am going to take this 7% of our home as a business expense.
Under Part II... Lines 10 and 11. Deductible mortgage interest and real estate taxes...I am going to take the entire amount on schedule A, so, hopefully, do not have to enter anything here.
line 17. Insurance. Are we allowed to take a portion of our homeowners insurance as a deduction? I have no separate business insurance.
Line 19. Utilities. I know I can take 7% of my electric, gas, water, garbage (I think), but what about phones? We have both cell and regular phone. When I call, I use the regular phone for toll free numbers, but the cell phone to my boss who does not have a toll free #.
Then, I need to find the value of my home for Part III. I guess I will check home sales in the neighborhood and go by that.
Geez..sorry for sounding like such a dummy. I can do all the other...capital gains, etc, just not sure what is allowed for home expenses.
As I say, I will try to get in to the accountant, but any advise for any of this form would be greatly appreciated. I cannot complete schedule A until I have my Profit or Loss done, which I cannot complete until I do this form.
Thanks.
I too question you overhead expenses. I work for a company that only gets 11-12 cpl and pays us 8-8.
/
True but that is to cover the expenses like rent, office supplies, sm
manager salaries. That does not include payroll that is based on service.
A good example woould be this: You are starting a book store. You need to plan the original inventory and six months worth of expenses. If you sell that inventory, you use the money from that to buy more books. If you do not sell any at first, you can stay in business for six months while you get noticed.
With transcription or any service business, you need enough in the bank to cover the same expenses, those that can keep you afloat while building your client base. However, you only hire more people as you get more customers. The payroll does not figure into the 6 months as it is based on what you provide, whereas the 6 months takes into account what it takes to get it going even if you do not have 1 employee.
Very, very few companies can have $800,000 lying around. If they did, they probably would need to invest it in equipment or spend it in other ways or the IRS would consider it profit and tax the heck out of it!
I figure income minus expenses, send 23% for federal and 7.5% to state--sm
quarterly. The state probably differs state to state, but that is the percentile my accountant came up with. Have never had to pay and additional.
I deduct all expenses that relate to my home office-% of utilities, taxes, repairs to that room, --s
mortgage (we do not plan to sell our house so this deduction will not affect us)as my office is used only for that purpose, internet, phone, I print out a daily schedule so paper/ink, computer repairs, pens, pencils, tape, staples, file cabinets, storge bins for tax recepts/tax returns,file folders. Anything/everything I use to do my job.
I was using mileage for another account where I pick up tapes every day, but found for me the time it took to keep track of the mileage, write it down, add it up was not worth the effort so I quit doing it this year.
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