Make sure the tax guy is familiar with the trucking industry. If not, you might lose alot of deductions.

can i write off the expense of what it cost to hire a CPA to handle the taxes for me? what does that normally cost too?
i'm an independent contractor on a 1099, i just went to wal-mart the other night to buy a new pair of pants and 4 shirts, can i write them off too?
does anyone have a sample spreadsheet that they've found or created to manage their taxes? i'm new to doing my my own taxes, my dad does them normally but neither of us are familiar with trucker tax expenses....ANY and ALL help would be greatly apretiated. thanks

the cost of hiring some one to do yer taxes is a tax right off expense. if those clothes are for work purposes then you can write them off. basically anything you buy for the truck or for you to use for business is a write off, keep all receipts. yer cell phone bill is also a write off as well.

Well I dunno about the phone bill...you have to be careful about how you write things off or What things you write off. I don tthink you can write off your phone bill when you use it 20 minutes a month for biz stuff, and 2343 hours of non business stuff. You can write off what you use for business, like those 20 minutes, but then you need to figure out what that adds up to be. and if its during time you dont get charged for anyways...no point.

__________________
"You Americans are so gullible. No, you won’t accept Communism outright. But we will keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you finally wake up and realize you already have communism. We won’t have to fight you; we’ll so weaken your economy that you will fall like over ripe fruit into our hands."
Former Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev

yeah but heres the catch, i learbed this my first year driving, the government consideres yer cell phome to be an asset, you may not use it that much for talking to yer dispatcher, but becuase yer OTR ya need to communicate with yer family, dispatcher, and for emergencies. therefore they allow ya to write it off. actually had to call the IRS to find that out. i learned real quick like that turbo tax was way better then going to a tax person, most tax preparers do not know all there is when it comes to truckers tax breaks.

ok, see i use nextel as my cell carrier, its my personal phone but it use it for both pleasure and buisness, i have to call my dispatcher and even brokers all the time for every load i do....my dispatcher also has nextel direct connect like i do so we can communicate either way...if i didnt have a cell i wouldnt get loads, no loads = no money!

Actually there is no promise that it will be easy to divide pleasure from work as far as the phone goes
IRS loves red tape LOL
Pretty sure you cant write off the total amount
We cant for local

With the influx of the type of nationwide plans and such tied to another at home, I personally doubt the IRS will be considering such costing measures as in the past.

The phone even if used 100% business would not be affected if there was some personal calls. The cost would still be the same.

A couple of the recent IRS audits I represented clients on, the phone was not even looked at.

as long as it is with you in the truck and ya use it for business it is a write off, i also write off the cost of my laptop dial up card because the government again says that it can be used for business as well.

While the likelyhood of an audit by the Feds is slim to none...Id be wary of taking something off of taxes because someone else does it, or you heard you can do it. Lots of people take stuff off of their taxes because they think they can when in reality, they can't.

For cell phones...the IRS says you can:
Deduct for DEPRECIATION of the cell phone or computer IF BOTH are met:
1. its for the convenience of your employer.
2. Its required by the employer.
Both need to be met.

1. For the convenience...this means the cell phone (or puter) is used for substatial reason by your company
2. Its required by them...meaning...you can not properly perform your duties (driving) without them.

Now, which one to use....use the 50% use rule...is 50% of your phone or computer use FOR your business. If not, it is NOT deductable.

Basically, not only do the companies have to require you to have a phone, they need to have a prety good reason to do so. In addition...even if you DO have a phone...over 50% of its use has to be for the business / company before you can deduct its depreciation...not what you pay the phone comp each month.

__________________
"You Americans are so gullible. No, you won’t accept Communism outright. But we will keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you finally wake up and realize you already have communism. We won’t have to fight you; we’ll so weaken your economy that you will fall like over ripe fruit into our hands."
Former Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev