Taxes

[maestro489]

Tell me about some deductions that I might not have known I could deduct.

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[Southeast Treats]

You can deduct the cost of a good accountant, and that may be the best thing you ever spend money on.  Are you home based?  Any space used exclusively for the business can be calculated and a portion of your utilities can be expensed.  Cell phone?  Internet?  Do you have a company vehicle or are you using you personal vehicle for work?   Don't forget depreciation on your equipment...

[AngryChris]

What Southeast Treats says is correct... however... I do not opt to take such exemptions.  Between the utilities, home office space, and cell phone expenses, I might be able to claim roughly $25 for the cell phone (I use it for business AND personal), practically nothing for utilities since I use hardly none for the business, and maybe $50 for office space since it's 10% of the square footage in my house.  That adds up to $75/month or about $900/year to write off.  To me, it's not worth the risk of getting flagged by the IRS.  I'd rather just stick to the natural proven expenses such as the tens of thousands of dollars in COGs, thousands of dollars in fuel mileage, thousands of dollars in repairs, etc..

Speaking of fuel mileage, you can deduct the mileage INSTEAD of actual automotive expenses.  In other words, say you spent $3,000 last year between fuel, oil changes, repairs, etc... Say you also drove 10,000 miles.  You can deduct about $5,500 from the mileage rather than $3,000 in actual expenses.  Of course, this only works out if your mileage deduction exceeds your actual expenses.   I believe you can also deduct a healthcare policy if you are self employed but I am not 100% sure.