Starting Lease Purchase.....

I haven't started my driver training yet!
My drivers eduction started about a week ago, WHEN I FOUND THIS SITE !!!
First thing I learned was DO NOT LEASE, especially beforer you get some time and experience under your belt!

 

I just cannot understand why these new drivers will admit they have very little experience and knowledge of the trucking business,and ask for help, yet will not listen to the very good advice given by those who have made the error of signing a lease early in their driving career. DO NOT LEASE A TRUCK UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND THE GAME. The odds are against you, big time. However, I wish you luck, and hire a CPA familiar with trucking. There are several who advertise their expertise in dealing with the transportation industry.

 

Ok
He gets the point problem is it's already done ... He didn't ask for a sermon on LP but for tax advise

To the OP ...

I do mine annually , prob I have found on the quaterly side is sometimes your get a projected next qtr earning and etc ... So if you have a down period etc don't work out well ...

Now some will dispute me on this but ... I go annual and be sure you keep receipts for every nut and bolt , fuel etc
You will be fine or I have

 

CPA. I've been with my CPA for 20 years and I told her I was starting a new career in trucking and might be in the market to be O/O in the near future. She assured me that their company handles many different businesses would be happy to take another account.

My wife was an independent contractor for a political consultant in Sacramento. The first year she was working there, and taxes needed to be filed, we didn't know about quarterly taxes. No problem- there was no penalty just pay up by April 15 like everyone else lol.


The sentiment on this board is very anti-lease purchase. Don't worry too much about taxes, try to hold back about 28% or so to cover that but in the worst case scenario if you ended up owing tens of thousands of dollars to the IRS believe it or not you can make a deal with them lol.

 

ATBS out of Colorado is a great tax service for O/O's. They will be glad to help you out and show you how much money you are losing!

 

Hi, Romans. I used to be leased to them and they were decent. I didn't know they offered L/P and I'd recommend against L/P with any company but what's done is done. I do know that preparing for tax time is hair raising the first year with any company.

The best approach is organization. Record keeping for taxes isn't rocket science. Keep a cheap Walmart accordion folder in your truck and label slots for: Fuel, PM Service (lube/oil and such), repairs & maintenance, tires, lumper receipts, truck washes, tolls, scales, and Miscellaneous (for cleaning supplies, tools and truck related junk). When you get a copy of a receipt, plunk it in the folder.

At home keep a little file for business related expenses (cell phone, office supplies and that sort of thing). Keep a little book to record all miles on your personal vehicle doing anything business related. Hey, going to the post office for stamps is biz related, no? Went to Wally world to buy paper towels for the truck? That mileage is deductible. BTW, keep your logbooks forever because they show nights away from home and support per diem.

This thing will give you an idea of the type of information that you well give to your tax preparer before tax time. You don't send your preparer a shoe box filled with receipts, you just send the tax organizer form and attachments mentioned in section 10 of the organizer. Keep receipts, tax related paperwork and copies of the organizer for a minimum of three years (audits?). Your company will give you settlement sheets and a quarterly printout for fuel taxes paid.

All this is easier than it looks with cheap decent printing calculator (also deductible) and you can total up costs every month. If you wait and total at the end of the year, it can take a day or two.

As others have said, use a CPA who understands trucking. Ideally we should talk to a CPA before we go L/P or O/O but you'll find that not all understand trucking and that costs you money in lost deductions. I used these guys for years and they were great.

I never paid quarterly and was never penalized. Do set money aside in your savings account for taxes and other unexpected expenses. A wise man once told me to pay myself less than a company driver, not to be impressed with big settlement checks and to save like crazy for a rainy day. It worked.

We live and learn. This is the toughest business on the planetwhen it comes to getting good/accurate information. So much is recycled CB chatter and truck stop BS. Join OOIDA and read everything you can get your hands on.

With luck, you'll make about what a company driver will make with a decent company. Unless your company has changed, they were always fair and honest with me. Hope this helps.

 

Great post Diogenes. The only thing I would do different : I would mail receipts home as OFTEN as possible. Keep stamps and envelopes in the truck. If you have someone at home that could file them for you, that would be nice. Keeping a lot of receipts in the truck, your logs better be TIGHT !

 

You make a good point about keeping receipts in the truck. I always kept my little accordian folder in the sleeper berth and never had a problem on the few occasions that my truck was searched.

Maybe I'm just too cheap to spring for the stamps.

 

ATBS is another good one.