Tax Questions

[BlitzkriegBob]

Hello all. I am a newbie here, and also a newbie official. I became an Indiana high school official this past year and find myself trying to figure out tax issues for the first time. In my Officials' Quarterly magazine I just received, there was an article on "Taxes and the Sports Official". In it, along with items such as dues, uniforms, shoes, equipment, clinics, tax preparation and mileage (items I already was claming), the author also listed uniform cleaning, telephone expenses, postage, and meals as other deductible expenses. My wife and I use H&R Block to do our taxes, and they weren't too hip on the uniform cleaning idea. They also claimed that I could only deduct the mileage that I drove from my regular place of employment to the actual game, and not the return trip or the trip home. On the issue of meals, they claimed that I could only deduct that if my officiating duties required me to be away from home for 24 hours. Is that thinking in line with what you experienced officials have done? H&R Block admitted that they didn't have a clue as to what a sports official does, so I'm thinking that maybe their inexperience showed. Last year I only did volleyball matches and made less than $500 so I am not stressing about deductible expenses, but this year I am adding softball and basketball, and I would like to have accurate information so that I can account for any deductions for which I am eligible. How do you account for cleaning uniforms and cell phone expenses, if you account for them at all? Mileage? Does it matter if it's a weekday game that I'm doing after work or if it's a tournament I'm doing on the weekend? Any personal experiences you care to share or online resources you can point out to me would be greatly appreciated.