Questions for experienced O/O or Leasee.

never lease
yes the truck u buy out right is deductible any thing u use cell phone, fuel, down to baby wipes is deductible. u can write off pretty much any thing concerning o/o.

 

Leasing your truck is not necessarily a bad idea., except for doing a lease purchase from a company. that is bad.
For example, I bought my truck from Arrow Truck Sales, and it's a lease purchase from the finance company. I have a 45 month lease with a buyout payment less than the lease payment in the end. By going this route, you can put the truck wherever you want to, with whatever company will accept you. You can also get your own authority and book your loads direct, but I don't recommend it, since you've been out of the picture for so long. Lots of things have changed, and you need to familiarize yourself with everything that's changed over the years.
Also, while a lease payment is deductible, unless something has changed, your truck payment on a conventional loan is not deductible. With that scenario, you can depreciate the truck over three years, but not deduct the payment. I may be wrong with that, but I don't think so. I'm sure someone else will correct me if I'm wrong.
Good luck.

 

If you buy, you deduct depreciation, and interest.

 

You will have to pay tax on net income. Thats after ALL your business expenses.

 

Lease payments are direct write off but depending on your CPA, your loan interest may be but not the payments, that is taken care of depreciation.

It is best to ask your CPA about these things, not a tax preparer but a CPA.