What all do you write off with your business?

[Translucent]

Quick question? How many of you write off your vehicle e.g. Truck/ Car that you use to pull or haul your equipment from house to house or job?

Do you also write of your fuel expenses as well?

Same with fuel for your equipment?

Can you write off advertising expenses? Polo shirts, Signs, Lettering. Flyers? Paying a service to render and hand out door signs on your behalf?

Milage

Trimmer feed line?

Vehicle/ Truck maintenance? Brakes, Oil-changes, wipers, etc....

I’m just wondering what all must be covered owning and running a LCO business, and being able to write off business expenses. I’m totally new to this industry.

Thanks in advance for any help.

-Ryan

[Blake]

Just about everything. The sky is the limit. Tools, hardware, paper towels, gator aid, soap, wifes gas, hotel rooms, .............this I why I own a small business. You can justify alot of things as business expenses. I wouldn't try to pass the house payment or jewelry but a new computer or a GPS could certainly be considerd as a business expense.

[jrservices]

Quick question? How many of you write off your vehicle e.g. Truck/ Car that you use to pull or haul your equipment from house to house or job?

Do you also write of your fuel expenses as well?

Same with fuel for your equipment?

Can you write off advertising expenses? Polo shirts, Signs, Lettering. Flyers? Paying a service to render and hand out door signs on your behalf?

Milage

Trimmer feed line?

Vehicle/ Truck maintenance? Brakes, Oil-changes, wipers, etc....

I’m just wondering what all must be covered owning and running a LCO business, and being able to write off business expenses. I’m totally new to this industry.

Thanks in advance for any help.

-Ryan

As much as possible. With trucks & fuel, you can write off whichever one is higher, for me, usually mileage. All maintenance & repairs on trucks & equipment. All fuel for equipment. Business insurance. Truck insurance. New equipment purchases. All advertising, that really adds up. Business jackets & uniforms. As long as you have a tax #, resale materials such as mulch, topsoil, seed, what have you. If you have an office in your home(I do), you can take a % of home expenses, such as utilities, taxes, homeowners insurance. Office expenses, such as stationery, computers, any mailing expenses. See your accountant, I'm sure I missed some of them.

[Translucent]

Thanks lot'sof good help here. In order to write-off, do you have to have just a business license? or Business license & Tax I.D.#? If so where do you go to get the license or Tax I.D.#


-Ryan

[grandview]

As much as you can. Becareful with the home office that's a big red flag for the i.r.s. i won't do it even if i could but get a good accountant.

[Elwood]

Best advice is to hire an accountant. He can guide you down the right path and not get you in trouble with the IRS.

I write off as much as humanly possible!

[Team Gopher]

Hi Translucent,

As Elwood said you really should consider getting an accountant. I could tell you horror stories of new business owners just writing off everything and later being audited. This is so easy to avoid with the proper tax advice.

[frematj]

You have to be filed as an actual business in order to qualify for these write off's right??

[boazcat]

Someon may come along and correct me... but I think as long as you are admitting to income and paying the appropriate taxes, you can deduct expenses. I use Turbo Tax for mine and for my wife's Mary Kay business. It has never asked for any license numbers on my tax forms.

[Scott]

you can even write off part of vacations if you do it correctly.
Say you goto Disney World and visit a few of the million local plant suppliers. Take pictures of designs and other industry related items. Bam, there's your hotel expenses and a few meals. My accountant, which finances a GC to build over 140 houses a year, does this all the time. He goes and checks out the upscale subdivisions, snaps a few shots, visits a few open houses, gets some brochures, maybe some floor plans, and that's it.

[Bulldog26]

I"m going to get a 4 wheeler this year to pull the Aerater and roller :-)