My Accountant was able to write off all my tools, raw materials, parts, snowmobiles, trailers, etc.

This is what you do: Start a "small business"

1. go to the county clerks office and file for a fictitious business name. *(In sutter co. it's free)
2. get a business license (about $25.00
3. go out and buy what you need.
4. At years end write it all off.

thousands of $$$$$$$$ in tax savings!!!!!!!!
more $$$$$$for:beer: :beer: :beer:

Can anyone else see the great big AUDIT down the road?:D

Or....if you are able to use all your toys for work then its a taxable write off anyways:D:D:D:D

i say this should be in chit chat

Drew

Congratulations Randal Jung of
Yuba City, CA 95993, USA you and your wife have just won an Federal and State tax Audit!:eek:
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Make sure your accountant gets a cell next to ya!;)

well I also do some write offs not as drastic
as some but.

I belong to search and rescue
took a lot of training to be qualified

any way I can rite off items that I need for search and rescue,

like part of the cost of my new snowmobile
not the whole thing but some of it
also any tools that I need to take with me
to a search in case snowmobile breaks down.

basicaly if I am audited I have to justify
the equipment is being used for search and rescue.
at least some of the time.

beleve me if you were lost and I drove up
in my new truck and had been searching for
you for the laast 5 days you would say
thank you and aprichiate the fact that I
am able to off set some of my costs at
tax time.

You can write-off anything you want up to a certian amount (section 179 deduction) I think... $5000 or so, after that you must depreciate the stuff anually.
BUT...
If you get caught your accountant wont pay the bill.
Uncle sam will want to see schedule C (profit or loss) showing all your expences, and they will expect to see some income also (which is subject to 15.3% self employment contribution).
Where I live, anything that you use in a business other than vehicles with a title, are taxes at 6.5% per year on jan 1st. , based on whatever it's value is on your fed tax forms.
Like I said, YOU can do it.

i hope this is a joke. otherwise it takes the cake as the dumbest thread i've ever seen.

p.s. the idea is genius, i wonder why no one else thought of it??

Hey thats a good idea, but you better hope your fake business makes some money in the first 3 years or have fun paying that money back. :flipoff2: You can claim part of your toys and stuff off as a hobbie exspensives, but you are limited with that.

You can only write off hobby expenses... that would cover any hobby income....You can't take a loss by writing off hobby expenses...

if you win more than 2500$ in cash! you can claim the entire sport.... after 2500$ worth of winnings it is no longer considered a hobby.... :D hell thats almost worth me givin myself first place of 2500, ill add that 2500 to my income to be able to write off all the $$$$ i have dumped into my rig, trailer, lodging, tow rig.... :D

tators has the right idea. don't go with the Fake biz. It's a hobby. It is about a writeoff. Save all your reciepts. Then if you ever sell some of your stuff. an the TAX man comes knockin'. you can show that you have still not made a profit. It is not a smart idea to make a fake biz. it will catch up to ya...

lol, you have to apply for a fictitious name even if its a "real" business..... just so you all know.....

I'm not talking about a fake business. I'm talking about a real business. We all take our sports seriously. Why not make a business out of it. You don't have to make a "living" out of it. but you CAN charge people for what you do. Even if it is a very small amount. Keep the records and books straight, write legitimate reciepts and everyone wins. I work on peoples rigs, take them on trips and outings and charge them for it. Whether its a small amount or not, who says you have to charge alot, you name the price.

remember, business expenses are based on intent. It's done all the time. There is nothing illegal about this. Granted, you do need to show a profit after three year. If you don't it's considered a hobby. And you close the doors and start over.

A friend of mine does this with a race car, but he shows a profit at the end of the year. That way, he pays a little tax on money he didn't actually make (it costs him about $10k a year to run the car, plus his sponsors kick in about $30k a year collectively), 'cause he's actually losing money on it. But he doesn't pay much, 'cause he buries the $30k a year extra sponsor income, into racing expenses. So he's actually:
1. Paying taxes on the $100 a year that he claims as profit.
2. Not claiming the $10k a year that he actually spends, as loss.
3. Paying taxes on the $10k a year in witholding (he has a regular job too) anyway.
4. Losing his shirt in taxes and on racing, but that's not much different than the rest of us.

Works like this:
Earn $40k a year working for somebody else.
Scrounge $30k a year selling space on a car.
Spend $40k a year on racing.
Tell the IRS he makes $100 a year on racing.
Pay taxes on $40,100 (income from work plus income from racing)
Avoid paying taxes on $60k a year ($40k + $30k - $10k).
So save $20k in otherwise taxable income, pay the tax man $6k less than otherwise.

But, by showing a profit, it gets classified as a business, and racing is deductible. If he doesn't show a profit, he doesn't pay taxes on it, but if you don't ever make money, the IRS will ream you after a few years, and hit you with penalties, interest, and a whole buncha other stuff.

Best of luck to somebody trying to write it off like gambling... that's gonna be a tough sell even with a good accountant. You can only write off related expenses--like if I have a regular job, and I run a DJ business too, and the DJ business loses money one year, I can't deduct that loss off of my regular job. I can carry it forward and deduct it off of next year's DJ income, but not off this year's regular income.

Bottom line, if you don't make money on it, you probably can't write it off, unless it's charity-type stuff. The SAR example is a good one; rural fire departments are another. If you use your vehicle for some form of public service, you *may* be able to deduct *those* costs, but you'd be up to your eyeballs in headache trying.

Originally posted by bennett
Congratulations Randal Jung of
Yuba City, CA 95993, USA you and your wife have just won an Federal and State tax Audit!:eek:
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Make sure your accountant gets a cell next to ya!;)

I would most definately get through an audit. I did not intend to make this sound like a fake business. This is legit. I have a shop and keep legitimate records and books. What I'm saying is it's not hard to start up a business, whether you make money or not. the intent is to DO business, and hopefully you will make money and save on taxes.

btw. I'm glad you know where to find my name and geo loc. :flipoff2:

Originally posted by SpineTx
I'm not talking about a fake business.
remember, business expenses are based on intent. It's done all the time. There is nothing illegal about this. Granted, you do need to show a profit after three year. If you don't it's considered a hobby. And you close the doors and start over.

When you close the doors and start over, sometimes you'll get away with it... if you do it repeatedly, the IRS will catch on sooner or later. If (when) they do, they'll hit you for back taxes, penalties, etc.

Originally posted by SpineTx


btw. I'm glad you know where to find my name and geo loc. :flipoff2:

I just clicked on your profile button like the Tax man would:flipoff2: