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What type of schedule C expense is Taxi?

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:56 pm
by elser
Guess what I'm doing? :( Just wondering what type of expense ya'll consider Taxi; Advertising, Professional Organizations, blah blah blah... Dontcha just love this time of year? :roll: :D

Re: What type of schedule C expense is Taxi?

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:17 pm
by andygabrys
actually it doesn't matter.

I put mine under professional, but it really doesn't matter. you just don't put it in 2 places :).

AFAIK - its all the same discount "rate"

Re: What type of schedule C expense is Taxi?

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:18 pm
by elser
I'm just second guessing the IRS when it comes to audit's, what would be more likely to raise suspicion? Of course all my stuff is legit but I still want to do what I can to avoid an audit.

Re: What type of schedule C expense is Taxi?

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:27 pm
by andygabrys
that's an interesting question.

when we lived in brooklyn, we went to a tax guy (who we didn't end up finalizing with) who was a former IRS auditor. he basically just discarded what we had and put in a bunch of numbers based on his experience of what the average deductions across the board were - i.e. the average across the US. apparently, having numbers like this puts you in the lowest risk of having an audit.

but really, how can you back it up? no paper trail, so I went back to doing it myself, warts and all, cause at least I felt like it was something I could back up.

Being self employed in the first place puts you in a higher risk of audits automatically.

I didn't mean to be flip by saying you could just about put the deductions anywhere, its true.

For example:

advertising or marketing vs. Professional - taxi membership and submission fees? kind of marketing isn't it. Also kind of a professional organization too. so which is it? doesn't really matter, just don't put it in more than one category.

taxi road rally? I figured it was a professional expense, but its also marketing.

I think you will be fine. you are all straight ahead, no worries. if you number comes up, it won't be because you put down numbers in the wrong column, it will just be because you were picked at random to get the audit cause you are self-employed.

my two cents anyways. At this point, I just plow through and do it the same way as every year, and don't double dip. what more can you do?

Re: What type of schedule C expense is Taxi?

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:25 pm
by elser
Thanks Andy

Re: What type of schedule C expense is Taxi?

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:25 pm
by Hookjaw Brown
Taxi membership dues are "Professional Organization" expenses.

Submissions and road rallies and voice lessons etc are just cost of doing business and you can make up an item name. Just have a ledger with receipts to back up all your expenses.

The hard part is to prove that music is not a hobby but a business. Keeping good records of income and expenses is the biggest proof of business, because you are running it like a business. It also helps if you can show a small profit every few years, then large expenses can be carried forward to the good years.

Basically, keep detailed logs and ledgers, and hold onto your receipts.

Re: What type of schedule C expense is Taxi?

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:45 pm
by andygabrys
no problem jon, good luck.

good call Hookjaw.

Re: What type of schedule C expense is Taxi?

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 1:25 am
by elser
Hookjaw Brown wrote:Taxi membership dues are "Professional Organization" expenses.

Submissions and road rallies and voice lessons etc are just cost of doing business and you can make up an item name. Just have a ledger with receipts to back up all your expenses.

The hard part is to prove that music is not a hobby but a business. Keeping good records of income and expenses is the biggest proof of business, because you are running it like a business. It also helps if you can show a small profit every few years, then large expenses can be carried forward to the good years.

Basically, keep detailed logs and ledgers, and hold onto your receipts.
It's my only income, no problem there. Thanks.