Tax Write-Off-able?

[Mark Dexter]

Originally Posted by greymule

That jacket is most certainly 100% deductible. You bought it to promote, market, or advertise yourself and your services. That stuff about wearing it on the street applies to employees who receive W-2 forms, not private vendors supplying services. (That would be the Schedule A that Bob M mentions. In fact, the deductions you take as an official appear on Schedule C, not Schedule A.)

While you are correct that the Schedule A test does not apply here, it is rather the "ordinary and necessary" test that does. I doubt that the IRS would allow a standard piece of men's clothing (that can be worn at other times) to be deducted - even if you locked it in a closet and only wore it to/from games.

If half the phone calls you make involve officiating, then half your phone bill is deductible. If you use your cell phone 90% for officiating purposes, then 90% of your cell phone bill is deductible.

That's not entirely true. See IRS Pub. 535 for a more detailed explaination.