Tax Question
 

We'll see if Big Brother is monitoring this site.....

As far as I know, I am a contracted individual and I am being hired by the assignor who has been contracted by the schools. I get paid $55 for one sub-varsity game and $90 if I work two sub-varsity games.

How many of you are tracking and recording mileage for tax purposes?

Second question, I have always assumed the first game has some "included" mileage factor into it, which is why the second game is less money. I can check with my assignor, but if thats true, how does one factor this into their mileage claim for tax purposes?

Maybe the third question should be...how many of you pay taxes? :D

One doesn't. Mileage deduction for the trip is what it is, whether you call one game or seven when you get there.

If part of the check is a mileage allotment, it goes against the mileage deduction and is not included in income. So, in the OP's situation -- if he's getting $90 and only $35 for the second game, it may be that $20 is travel money.

The 2012 IRS rate is 55.5 cents per mile. That covers about 36 miles of driving. Anything above that, deduct 55.5 cents a mile from the game fee.

(Really, it doesn't matter since mileage deductions go straight against Schedule C income. Count it as income, count it as a mileage allotment, it's all going to come out the same.)

I was just working on some of this tonight, come to think of it.

I will interject here that just because you drive to a game does not make it tax deductible mileage. Trips from home to a game are not generally deductible if it is in your normal metropolitan area. Trips from one place of employment to another is...


Now for the legal stuff


This is for general information only. Nothing in this information should be construed as creating an attorney-client relationship nor shall any of this information be construed as providing legal advice. Laws change over time and differ from state to state. Applicability of the legal principles discussed may differ substantially in individual situations. You should not act upon the information presented herein without consulting an attorney about your particular situation.

Seriously - if you use the "Search" function at the top of the Forum and type in "taxes" you will see a good many discussions we've had on this subject over the many years. Good background information.

Bottom Line - check with a tax professional.

1. I record mileage for every game, local meeting, and any other travel I do for officiating. I record everything in a spreadsheet (I prefer Google Docs, so I can access the spreadsheet from multiple platforms).

2. As Rich points out, it doesn't matter. Income is income, and expenses are expenses.

3. I've paid tax on every dime I've ever earned. For one thing, in my state you'll lose your license if convicted of tax evasion or related crimes. To me it's worth a couple hundred bucks a year not to run this risk.

I would recommend seeing if your association knows a CPA that works with any of the officials. We have an official who is a CPA by trade. I pay him to do my taxes every year. He charges $200-$300 and he has literally saved me thousands of dollars the last 5 years.

I keep a mileage log and also receipts for camps, supplies and can even expense a portion of cell phone/internet costs since they are necessary for the job.

Of course less the IRS applicable and allowable expenses.;)

And yes, spreadsheets are a godsend for keeping track of mileage and all our other officiating related expenses during the season....or the entire year for those of us who officiate multiple sports.

The certified tax person I pay to do my taxes disagrees due to the nature of our work and each school being a temporary work site. This is what I do, everybody has to make their own decision.

I document all officiating income by game, including mileage compensation. That is all totaled up as income. All miles driven are recorded as expenses and are totaled up with all other expenses for the year.

I claim every cent I make officiating, 1099 issued or not. I also be sure to write off everything I can including uniforms, assigning fees, chapter dues, insurance fees and such. I don't bother trying to deduct part of my cell phone, internet or laundry expenses. I figure the small gain isn't worth the increased chance of an audit (though there are folks that do deduct those things).

Thanks for the reminder to get working on this. I need to quite being so lazy and actually keep up with these records throughout the year.

Another tax question...
I was just licensed in mid December 2012. I paid registration and clinic fees, purchased uniforms, equipment etc. in December 2012.

But I did not get my first paying gig until January 2013. I have receipts for all this, and it totals around $200.

So is it worth while for me to file the schedule C showing a loss in 2012? Or I am just asking for trouble? (I know I cannot file C-EZ because I had no officiating income in 2012).

IANAL, but, you should be fine. If they question it, you will just need to show that you received related income in 1/2013 that will go on the next year's taxes. Many business have start-up expenses that are incurred before income is received.

Everything you said is great except for the mileage part - I have to disagree with your tax pro (this is coming from a tax pro). Just because it's a temporary work site does not make commuting mileage deductible (if it's in your metro area, which of course is vaguely defined). In the vast majority of cases, if you're coming from your home, it's not deductible. Going from your full-time job to the school is.

Either way, the key is to KEEP GOOD RECORDS. Like others, a good spreadsheet is usually all you need.

It's amazing how this one topic has been disagreed on by various tax pros over the years. You'd think it would be cut-and-dried for some reason.

Anyhow, what about those of us who work from a home office full time (for my day job). Would the tax pro say I'm not entitled to *any* officiating related mileage?

We are sports officials and 99.999,999,999,999% of the time we are independent contractors. So let us for the sake of this discussion assume that all of our officiating income falls under our status as an independent contractor.

All mileage that one drives for business purposes is deductible. One's home is considered to be the main office for the business. One drives to various schools to provides the services that one has been contracted to perform and to drive to various business related meetings. No were in the Schedule C Instructions for Line 9 (for 2011) does it mention "metro area". If one has to drive from Point A to Point B to officiate then that is deductible mileage.

I have been filing Schedule C's for officiating for 31 years and claim every penny of game fees (check, cash, whether a 1099 is generated or not). And I have claimed every 0.1 of a mile that I have driven for officiating, and have never had my return questioned.

Actually, the deductions (besides the mileage deduction) that are allowed are pretty easy: parking, toll roads, insurance (liability and game fee replacement), vehicle rental, repairs/maint. of equipment, postage, stationary (envelopes and such for correspondence), travel (air fair, hotels, and meals), association membership dues, registration fees, assignors fees, uniforms, equipment, laundry/drycleaning, publications, and education.

There is one deduction that the vast majority of officials do not know that they can claim and that is the interest on the car loan of the car that they drive when officiating. The amount that one can deduct is a prorated amount (miles driven for officiating divided by the total amount of miles driven for the whole year). The mileage deduction does not cover the amount of interest paid in car loans.

My better half created an Excel spreadsheet for me years ago. I use the spread sheet as well as my Outlook Calendar as my diary for tax purposes.

I have never had anyone prepare my tax returns for me. Filing Schedule C's are not really a very difficult thing to do.

MTD, Sr.

I believe you are incorrect unless you are employed by the school you're working at. Since officials are generally not - this is not "another place of employment" - it is a cost of doing business for an independent contractor.