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Originally Posted by Lotto
Here's another tax related question. I bought a GPS unit in 2007 that I use to get to games. I think that this is something that I have to depreciate rather that simply write off. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
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I am not a CPA or an MBA...but... just because you buy something that you use to earn income (get to games) does not mean it is deductable. Is it reasonable to assume you'll use it when NOT getting to games? I would think so and that makes it only partially deductable at best. And would you (or could you) actually depreciate the cost of this $500 thing as opposed to expensing it? Who knows... maybe W&S can tell us. Same idea applies when deducting car expenses - you get to deduct allowable expenses only to the extent it's applied to generating income. You can deduct actual partial expenses instead of taking the standard mileage but for me it usually works out better to take the standard mileage.
btw,
AFAIK this same thinking applies to uniforms... if you're going to deduct the entire cost of your $197 Nike Air-Whatevers then you should feel comfortable explaining that the only time you put them on your feet is 30 minutes before the game and they go back into storage immediately afterwards.
As for mileage, which I think by far is the largest expense for most of us, my understanding is you can deduct the cost of driving from 1 place of business to the next. Drive from home to a game? Can't deduct. Drive from work to a game? Can deduct. You cannot deduct the cost of driving back home. You can deduct tolls and parking costs. This is how I handle it, and I deduct every mile I am allowed at least to offset the travel expense money I recieve that I must report as income.
IMO the best policy it to report all income, take every reasonable deduction but don't squeeze blood from the turnip (as someone else said). If you're taking a tax loss every year you may want to rethink how aggressive you're being with your deductions... or go work for leagues that aint so damn cheap
