Cell phone write off ?

Oh no, I'm not even trying to make this an argument and I do appreciate you taking the time to write this guy and get an answer for us. I do see the intent behind the rules and the reasons why. I am a bit aggravated with the IRS for doing such a half assed, sloppy job of rewriting the code. If they don't want us doing something it's not that hard to lay it out clearly, even in their precious legalese.

What they did was rewrite the code and leave chunks of the old code in it. So now it's confusing everyone, which I suspect is not entirely accidental.

What it really boils down to is, do you really need more than 80% of $59 (or $56, or $65, whatever) to more than cover your daily expenses? Hell, that covers meals, clothing, and few other odds and ends for me. That's like taking the standard deduction, they'll never look at it. The only thing you have to do is prove you were on the road to get that and there isn't a single one of us that isn't up to our eyeballs in proof of that.

So unless you spend a lot on big ticket items, like my laptop and dual gps units, it's not even worth it to try and itemize beyond that standard deduction. With few exceptions, like your phone bill, tools you have to have, etc. Keep your receipts and don't worry too much about it.

 

OK, I'm new to this, and this has been full of use full information and some useless info. That being said.
I did not have a cell phone until I started trucking.
I use apps for truck stops, and the web when I am OTR.
I use it to call dispatch, weight stations, and customers.
Yes I also call the wife and txt my brother but I would not have done that if I was not OTR.
I will get with my CPA soon but I hate to take her a lot of paperwork with out knowing.
IMO the phone and the full bill should be tax deductible, because if I was not OTR I still would not have a cell.

 

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p529.pdf

Bottom of page 3 and top of page 4

 

There are still IRS agents who have a thing for these costs.

A friend was required to obtain the itemized billings to support the calls. The agent then left the case and another took over and realized the costs involved were ridiculous and accepted them.

 

take your total bill and look at each item (call). business or personal.

take the total number of calls and divide them into the business calls. This will give you a %. Take this % and times it against your total bill. This is what you can deduct.

100 calls = 65 business/35 personal

100 divided into 65 = 65%. 65% x total bill = what you can claim for deduction.

A lot of carriers will give about a 8% discount off your bill - professional. Contact your carrier about this.

Note - keep your log books if you are claiming the daily Per Diem. I just went through an adit for 2008 for per diem. 18 months later I won.

I would also suggest any company you work for to get a letter from them stating if they cover any daily costs such as food. They should list what they reimburse and what they do not reimburse. I had to spend $400 on a lawyer to get two letters from the companies I worked for in 2008.

Mark

 

Better yet I have Two cell phones one is under my company name 100% deductable it has my hotspot the other personal and most of my business calls are made on it so its decutable also

 

I deduct everything I do not eat. Everything. Monthly fee's for devices IE ,Cell.WiFi,pens,paper,shoes,underwear,socks the lists goes on. Save your receipt for everything you buy or use.If it is not edible it is tax deductible if you use it in or for your job.