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Phone Usage deduction. Personal vs Business separation.

Discussion in 'Trucker Taxes and Truck Financing' started by TallJoe, Feb 23, 2017.

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  1. Feb 23, 2017 #1
    TallJoe

    TallJoe Road Train Member

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    100% or separate personal from business?
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2017
    TallJoe, Feb 23, 2017
    TallJoe, Feb 23, 2017
    #1
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  3. Feb 24, 2017 #2
    Snailexpress

    Snailexpress Road Train Member

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    Separate. 75% will be good without details
     
    Snailexpress, Feb 24, 2017
    Snailexpress, Feb 24, 2017
    #2
  4. Feb 24, 2017 #3
    TallJoe

    TallJoe Road Train Member

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    I have a dedicated (just me) Verizon account, as it is the only reliable 4G all states I know of. It costs me about 2K a year. I use it for business; but personal too.What if it splits 60 personal / 40 business (talk time, and data even more)? The rest of family are on a different account with T-Mobile. Tempting to use all of it. But of course my personal calls/data should not count. But how are they gonna know? How am I gonna know, other than go through all the calls the entire year and somehow itemize them. If there is a business office (also including Post office, IRS facilities) they also dial/receive personal calls (no?) and most likely write off the whole phone/internet bills. The accountant does not want to get into interpretation, just wants me to state the cost.
     
    TallJoe, Feb 24, 2017
    TallJoe, Feb 24, 2017
    #3
  5. Feb 24, 2017 #4
    Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    Total phone - personal = business. Then Total phone/business = % you can use for the other items on bill.

    not hard to do a spreadsheet. if you wish send me a conversation and we can discuss. I do spreadsheets all the time and I kept 14 while I was a company driver.... CYA all the time... for example I even had the time I bumped to dock... and then released from dock.

    Keep your phone records... if you run a data plan from your phone then look at that.

    Cost of phone and any assy could be added to business.
     
    Mark Kling, Feb 24, 2017
    Mark Kling, Feb 24, 2017
    #4
    UsualSuspect and TallJoe Thank this.
  7. Feb 24, 2017 #5
    aussiejosh

    aussiejosh Road Train Member

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    For taxation purposes as long as its sounds reasonable then there'll be no questions asked that's why it might pay to keep a log of all your business phone calls that way you've got some proof if the IRS do an audit.
     
    aussiejosh, Feb 24, 2017
    aussiejosh, Feb 24, 2017
    #5
  8. Feb 25, 2017 #6
    ChicagoJohn

    ChicagoJohn Road Train Member

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    You all seriously separate your personal minutes from your business minutes?
     
    ChicagoJohn, Feb 25, 2017
    ChicagoJohn, Feb 25, 2017
    #6
    DirtyBrown Thanks this.
  9. Feb 25, 2017 #7
    TallJoe

    TallJoe Road Train Member

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    NO. But I want to know if I should. I mean, I'd rather have my front tooth pulled off than going through my phone bills, marking in yellow personal talk time. I guess it is a tax time so I am going a little paranoid. I need to shake it off.
     
    TallJoe, Feb 25, 2017
    TallJoe, Feb 25, 2017
    #7
    ChicagoJohn Thanks this.
  10. Feb 25, 2017 #8
    Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    Do you pay for x amount of minutes or is it unlimited?
     
    Mark Kling, Feb 25, 2017
    Mark Kling, Feb 25, 2017
    #8
  11. Feb 25, 2017 #9
    TallJoe

    TallJoe Road Train Member

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    Unlimited. Data 16 G per month.
     
    TallJoe, Feb 25, 2017
    TallJoe, Feb 25, 2017
    #9
  12. Feb 25, 2017 #10
    Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    What I would do is take 3 different months and determine the % of business calls versus personal calls. Then avg the 3 months to get a "avg" % and then use that for all your phone bills.
     
    Mark Kling, Feb 25, 2017
    Mark Kling, Feb 25, 2017
    #10
    TallJoe Thanks this.
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