Bernard B. Kamoroff - 475 Tax Deductions for Businesses and Self-Employed Individuals: An A-to-Z Guide to Hundreds of Tax Write-Offs

If you dont claim it, you dont get it.

Thats money down the drain

for millions of Americans.

Former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson

Tax

Deductions

for Businesses and

Self-Employed Individuals

Twelfth Edition

Bernard B. Kamoroff, CPA

An A-to-Z Guide to

Hundreds of Tax Write-Offs

An imprint of Globe Pequot

Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

Copyright 2018 Bernard B. Kamoroff, CPA

IRS Help Line cartoon, courtesy Bill Webster

Sister Ruby cartoon, courtesy John Grimes

Professional Writer cartoon, courtesy Mort Gerberg

Dont You Dare Deduct Me cartoon, courtesy William Hamilton

IRS Files and Office photographs, courtesy Internal Revenue Service

Sacramento Tax Files photo by Dan Chan, courtesy Franchise Tax Board

Most People Bring Their Accountant cartoon, courtesy Boardroom Reports

King Kong cartoon, courtesy Kat Emerson

Quote from Pretty Boy Floyd by Woody Guthrie, courtesy Fall River Music

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information available

The Library of Congress has cataloged the Taylor Trade Publishing edition as follows:

Kamoroff, Bernard.

475 tax deductions for businesses and self-employed individuals: an a-to-z guide to

hundreds of tax write-offs / Bernard B. Kamoroff, C.P.A. Eleventh Edition.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-58979-798-7 (pbk.: alk. paper)

1. Income tax deductions for expensesUnited StatesPopular works. 2. Self- employedTaxationLaw and legislationUnited StatesPopular works. 3. Small businessTaxationLaw and legislationUnited StatesPopular works. I. Title. II. Title: Fourhundredseventy-five tax deductions for businesses and self-employed individuals.

KF6394.K36 2013

343.730523dc23

2012041962

ISBN 978-1-4930-3218-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4930-3219-8 (e-book)

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

In America, there are two tax systems, one for the informed and one for the uninformed. Both are legal.

Judge Learned Hand

Contents

Preface: A Treasure Hunt

Every business owner and every self-employed person is looking for ways to reduce expenses without cutting corners, without reducing quality or losing customers. But few businesses look to the one area almost guaranteed to save you money: your tax return.

Last year, Americas small businesses overpaid their income taxes by more than $2 billion, according to a CPA study reported in Business 2000 Magazine . The overpayments were made because the businesses failed to take tax deductions they were legally entitled to take. Many of these businesses are still unaware of their errors. They overpaid their taxes and dont even know it.

The IRS is not going to help these businesses. The IRS will never tell you about a tax deduction you didnt take. Its entirely up to you. As former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson famously said, If you dont claim it, you dont get it.

Whether you struggle with your own tax return, hire an accountant, or put your trust in a software application, the more you know about whats deductible, the more youll save on your taxes. Your tax return lists only a handful of deductions, so it is up to you to make sure you find and claim every one. It really is a treasure hunt.

Every tax deduction you find in this book will reduce your taxes, honestly, legitimately, and with the full approval of the Internal Revenue Service.

It is very much like finding free money.

IIf the adjustments required by section 481 (a) and Regulation 1.481-1 are attributed to a change in method of accounting initiated by the taxpayer, the amount of such adjustments, to the extent such amount does not exceed the net amount which would have been required if the change had been made in the first taxable year, shall be taken into account by the taxpayer in computing taxable income in the manner provided in section 481 (b) (4) (B) and paragraph (b) of this section.

Internal Revenue Code

Well as through this world Ive rambled

Ive seen lots of funny men.

Some will rob you with a six-gun

And some with a fountain pen.

Woody Guthrie, Pretty Boy Floyd

Introduction to Tax Deductions

Relax

Relax. Tax law isnt easy, but this book is.

This book will not try to explain how to prepare a tax return. This book will not have you struggling with tax forms. This book will not drag you through the confusing, contradictory, confounding world of tax law.

This book will let you know about hundreds of tax deductions that are available to every small business, every home business, every self-employed individual, every independent contractor, and every on-demand (sharing economy) worker.

A CPA by the name of George Brown, who was interviewed in a business magazine, made a statement that has stuck with me for several years and that inspired this book: You get a raise every time you can legitimately avoid paying a tax on something. Every tax deduction you find will save you money on your federal income taxes, on your state income taxes, on your self-employment taxes, on local income taxes, and on any other business taxes based on net profit.

If you really like the challenge of preparing your own tax return, I encourage you to do it. And if you dont want to struggle with tax forms, leave that miserable job to your tax accountant. Either way, you owe it to yourself to find every tax deduction you can.

Who Is This Book For?

This book is for anyone working for himself or herself. This includes sole proprietors, partners in partnerships, members of limited liability companies (LLCs), and people who own their own corporations.

This book is for shopkeepers, repair people, manufacturers, tradespeople, freelancers, professionals, independent contractors, outside contractors, subcontractors, general contractors, contract laborers, entrepreneurs, consultants, mail-order businesses, internet businesses, artists, craftspeople, direct marketers, network marketers, multilevel marketers, free agents, virtual assistants, sales reps, inventors, employers, moonlighters, home businesses, full-time, part-time, sideline, you name it. Unless you are on someone elses payroll as an employee, you are in business for yourself. You are entitled to all the business deductions in this book.

This book is for anyone who gets a 1099-MISC form, the IRSs Miscellaneous Income form that businesses give to individuals who are doing contract work but are not on the payroll as an employee.

This book is for on-demand workers in the sharing economy or gig economycontract laborers and drivers and house cleaners and repair peoplegetting assignments from smartphone-enabled platforms.

This book is for employers, and for people who own their own corporation and who are employees of their own business.