Tax Return

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

Are "honey do" items in exchange for sewing on patches [tailoring] somehow deductible?

Probably does not apply if your tailor lives under the same roof.

[26 Year Gap]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Probably does not apply if your tailor lives under the same roof.

[BillyMac]

Freddie Fillmore: What is the name of the animal that fastens itself to you and drains you of your blood?

Lucy: Collector of Internal Revenue!

[grunewar]

What are taxes?

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by grunewar

What are taxes?

It are a small state southeast of Alaska.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

It are a small state southeast of Alaska.

Can Sarah Palin see it from her back porch?

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Can Sarah Palin see it from her back porch?

Billy...I mean Rich...to borrow a line from Snaqs, "No, but Tina Fey can."

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Can Sarah Palin see it from her back porch?

No, but Al Gore can.....and he invented it too!

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Freddie Fillmore: What is the name of the animal that fastens itself to you and drains you of your blood?

Lucy: Collector of Internal Revenue!

And if you add "the" to "irs" you get "Theirs".

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Andy

First of all, I would highly recommend contacting a tax professional for the absolute best information on this subject.

Some of the things that I track are:

- mileage to and from assignments (minus anything you are reimbursed for)
- cost of uniforms and supplies
- cleaning of uniforms
- any dues/assignor fees that you pay
- any officiating related subscriptions (ie Referee Magazine)
- any camp fees
- lodging you pay for while attending camps
- cost of any officiating related insurance that you purchase
- meals eaten to or from assignments (this gets tricky as to what qualifies)
- If you do any contests for free (ie Special Olympics), that could be
considered a charitable donation

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

You can deduct mileage even when reimbursed, just be sure to include the reimbursement in your income.
Note that not every area reimburses the full rate or even all the miles.

Here, we're given an extra $2 per trip within town, and you can be sure I'm not going to skip deducting a 15 mile trip in return for a $2 stipend.

Originally Posted by Welpe

This is how my tax pro does it as well. She adds any mileage reimbursement as part of my officiating income and I then deduct all mileage.

I don't personally bother deducting things like meals (unless for an overnight clinic, camp), cell phone, internet or even basic laundry costs. I like to keep things simple.

I will deduct:

-Local/State Dues
-NASO Membership fees (listed as insurance on the Schedule C)
-Assigner's fees
-Mileage-Uniforms / equipment
-Tailoring expenses
-Clinic fees and related lodging and meals
-Any volunteer assignments such as Special Olympics

As a friendly reminder, be sure to claim all officiating income, not just what you receiver a 1099 for.

I've been deducting mileage to and from games for all these years, but, an article in the Oct magazine has me a thinkin:

The article, written by "An enrolled agent licensed by the IRS and Official", he writes, "If you do not go to work at your regular work location, but go from home to the game, those miles are not deductible. Ouch! Your trip home is also not deductible. Another ouch!"

He states if you go from work to a game, "Only the miles from your office or place of employment are counted as business miles."

"It is a Saturday (a day off from your regular job) and you head to the game, none of these miles are business miles."

He further states, that if officiating is your only job, you can count all the mileage to and from games.

While it may not amount to much really, according to this article, I may have been doing it wrong for all these yrs.....

PS - I'm a changin my name.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by grunewar

I've been deducting mileage to and from games for all these years, but, an article in the October magazine has me a thinking: The article, written by "An enrolled agent licensed by the IRS and Official", he writes, "If you do not go to work at your regular work location, but go from home to the game, those miles are not deductible. Ouch! Your trip home is also not deductible. Another ouch!" He states if you go from work to a game, "Only the miles from your office or place of employment are counted as business miles.""It is a Saturday (a day off from your regular job) and you head to the game, none of these miles are business miles." He further states, that if officiating is your only job, you can count all the mileage to and from games. While it may not amount to much really, according to this article, I may have been doing it wrong for all these years.

I've heard the same thing.

For many, many years, I have given my round trip officiating miles to my accountant. I know that he uses those miles as a business expense, along with dues, uniform, etc. I also pay into Social Security on my tax return for my officiating income. I'm pretty sure that there are not too many officials who pay into Social Security, so grunewar's post is not going to make me feel guilty.

On the other hand, when a judge rules, "Guilty", then my accountant is going to be joining me "up the river", and we'll both be wearing horizontal stripes, which are not as slimming as the vertical stripes I wear as an official.

[dsqrddgd909]

Originally Posted by grunewar

I've been deducting mileage to and from games for all these years, but, an article in the Oct magazine has me a thinkin:

The article, written by "An enrolled agent licensed by the IRS and Official", he writes, "If you do not go to work at your regular work location, but go from home to the game, those miles are not deductible. Ouch! Your trip home is also not deductible. Another ouch!"

He states if you go from work to a game, "Only the miles from your office or place of employment are counted as business miles."

"It is a Saturday (a day off from your regular job) and you head to the game, none of these miles are business miles."

He further states, that if officiating is your only job, you can count all the mileage to and from games.

While it may not amount to much really, according to this article, I may have been doing it wrong for all these yrs.....

PS - I'm a changin my name.

Perhaps I'm oversimplifying, but aren't most of us independent contractors?
We're not employees.

"Two places of work. If you work at two places in one day, whether or not for the same employer, you can deduct the expense of getting from one workplace to the other. However, if for some personal reason you do not go directly from one location to the other, you cannot deduct more than the amount it would have cost you to go directly from the first location to the second.
Transportation expenses you have in going between home and a part-time job on a day off from your main job are commuting expenses. You cannot deduct them." http://www.irs.gov/publications/p463...blink100033930

I file Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, Sole Proprietorship.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

"Two places of work. If you work at two places in one day, whether or not for the same employer, you can deduct the expense of getting from one workplace to the other. However, if for some personal reason you do not go directly from one location to the other, you cannot deduct more than the amount it would have cost you to go directly from the first location to the second. Transportation expenses you have in going between home and a part-time job on a day off from your main job are commuting expenses. You cannot deduct them."

Killjoy.

[Welpe]

Grune, I read that same article and ran it by my tax person. She is an enrolled agent also and also worked for the IRS and even trained their auditors. She disagrees with the article because the mileage under officiating is not for another job but is considered a business expense as an independent contractor.

I'm not changing anything, and once again, Referee magazine puts out incorrect information.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Fiscal year 2010 was the 29th year that I have filed a Schedule C for officiating. I deduct the following items:

1) Mileage
2) Parking
3) Toll road fees
4) Game fee insurance fee policies that I pay for myself (i.e., NASO).
5) Interest on the car loan for the vehicle I use for officiating; this is not covered by your mileage deduction and is pro-rated based upon the number of miles you drive to officiate.
6) Legal fees ()
7) Vehicle rental
8) Repairs/maintence of equipment (repair shoes, chest protector, etc.)
9) Stationary supplies.
10) Travel (motel and hotel)
11) Meals
12) Long distance phone calls (that is a quaint one nowadays)
13) Membership dues
14) Registration fees
15) Assigners fees
16) Uniforms
17) Equipment
18) Laundry/drycleaning
19) Postage
20) Publications
21) Education

MTD, Sr.