I also disagree with the prior statement that you must use your vehicle 100% for business in order to use the depreciation deduction. My understanding is that the vehicle must be used more than 50% for business in order to depreciate.

Now that is a good diagram Dakota, thanks!

I believe a CPA as opposed to some chart posted on an Internet discussion board! :)

Some people are determined to be right even when they are wrong. You know this person is a CPA how? Weren't the people advising Enron CPAs?

Source of the information I posted:

IRS - Tracking Business and Travel Expenses

IRS Publication 463 Cat. No. 11081L Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses

Just as an example, last year I was able to claim about $610.00 for expenses. I had $178 in mileage, $170 in dues and subscriptions and $261 in equipment ( I bought a lot of new stuff).

As a CPA, I can assure you that Dakota is 100% correct as it pertains to the auto expenses.

[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.

Good lord, if officiating was costing me $2K per season, I wouldn't be doing it.

Then again, I suppose we have less travel here (NY Capital Region) than other places - there's one school 65 miles out from me and a handful of others over 30, but the vast majority of the schools I work are within 15 miles of home.

Good of you to post your sources, but cut BktBallRef a little slack - as a friend of mine likes to point out, "The Internet knows everything, whether or not it's true."

Well good, glad to hear it!!! Somebody else will be on here next week telling us something else. :)

BTW Dakota, no need to be an @ss. I was just going by what a respect member of another board had posted.

I was responding to your comment about "some chart" being less believable than an (alleged) CPA who merely posted - posted his opinion. I gave the general source of the chart (IRS). I only posted the link for the google-impared.

Hey you CPA's out there... Looking for write-offs for the 2006 football season...

If i buy a $500 gold coin that I use in my youth league games for the coin toss, am I allowed to use that a business expense... and if I can.. would i be able to by multiple coins, one for youth, middles school games, high school games and collegiate games?

Just asking?

CBrockett

I know what you were responding to and as I said, there's no need to be an @ss. Notice there was a :) after the post that I wrote. I saw no such after yours.

[QUOTE=insatty]I remember reading that you could only claim a loss for 3 years, after that they deem it not to be a business so you can no longer claim the loss

REPLY: Mike...I've heard that too. But, don't they (the IRS) have to inform you that it's now considered a 'hobby?' You don't just stop claiming the deductions after three years, right?