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[QUOTE=Tom.OH]I have been a football official for 7 years and have never come close to having a "loss" in income. How do you offset so many game fees? I deduct dues (state and local), uniform and equipment costs etc. The IRS raising the mileage to $.485 per mile did help but I also paid more for fuel to drive to the games. I have read about others reporting losses on other boards but have not found out why or how.
Tom:
Keep good records for actual auto expenses, like gas, oil, repairs, interest, insurance and these become deductible to the extent of business use in addition to depreciation. Then you deduct your officiating-related meals and entertainment, travel expenses, cell phone, publications, camps and clinics, dry cleaning your uniform, business use of computer (Arbiter), officiating insurance, dues, road tolls, etc.
Download a Schedule C from the IRS website and keep records that pertain to the categories. Then say, for example, you have a $2,000 net loss at year's end. You will then effectively save the state and federal income taxes that you would have paid on that loss. So if you're in the 30% tax bracket, you would save $600 in taxes.
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