Tax Software - Recommendation?

Nothing wrong with turbo tax.

The problem you will have first is the record keeping for income and expense.

Any quicken or whatever can be used. Most of the time, I see clients forgetting expenses.

As far as the truck deduction. Turbo tax has the ability to calculate the method.

The two methods you refer to are over 3 years or section 179.

If you take 179, you write it off in one year and no expense on the depreciation in other years.

It is a tax planning tool and you must figure where you will need the expense.

 

Are you wanting software to do just taxes or to keep records? If you just want something for the taxes then any software that does taxes would work. If you are looking for software to keep the books, then you may want to check Trucknpro. www.foglinesoftware. I have used it for several years and just got an update for 2011. I have owned a couple of software packages specific to the trucking industry and prefer Trucknpro, primarily due to it's simplicity. It will do about everything you need other than calculate the fuel taxes and invoicing. It does have the routing. It will track truck expenses, maintenance, etc., on both truck and trailer. It also has the capability of being used for kilometers or miles or percentage on income calculations. I like the way you can print out reports. One nice feature is that you can immediately see how well you are doing. You can have as many trucks and trailers without having to pay more money. They offer a trial version you can try online.

I have also owned Easy Trucking Software. www.easytrucking.com. It will do everything including calculating IFTA miles and invoicing. There are features that I like about this software, but it is not as user friendly as Trucknpro. Unless you really need the IFTA calculations you may want to consider the Trucknpro. Easy Trucking limits the number of trucks you can put into their software to five, although they do offer a version that you can add up to 100, as I recall. The problem with their owner operator version is that if you have more turnover you will need to delete information on some drivers in order to make the software work properly unless you purchase the more expensive version. The only difference between the two is the number of trucks you can have in the program. They used to offer a trial version.

One other that I have tried is Truckers Helper. www.truckershelper.com. They have several versions available from driver to small fleet owner. I like some of the features which includes dot compliance and several ways to calculate payroll or driver compensation. Some people feel that it is a bit more complex to use than the other two I noted. Depending on the version, it will do most everything you need. At one time they had a trial version you can download online.

One advantage of all three of these programs are that they were developed by truckers for truckers. There are some other programs, but these are the ones that I am most familiar. I have a couple of friends that purchased the Trucknpro program.

An advantage of buying a trucking specific program is that it already has what you need separated. It helps to keep specific expenses separate. All accounting or bookkeeping are pretty much the same. Trucking does have some unique things and it does save time in set up and helps you avoid something that might be otherwise missed. You can use a spreadsheet, but that usually require a little time to set everything up and there is always a chance that you will miss something.

As far as depreciation is concerned. You should be able to deduct all sales tax and fees related to your purchase. My state exempts sales tax on class 8 vehicles. I have not seen the current depreciation schedule, but you should be able to go to the IRS website and read the 2010 booklet. www.irsforms.com. For several years under the Bush administration you could deduct the entire purchase price of any equipment up to a certain amount of money, even if you paid cash. Some other things you can deduct are the 2290 heavy highway use tax. Another are the base plates, permits, UCR, etc., Trucking has a per diem that you can deduct for every day you are on the road if you don't want to keep track of your receipts.

 

You are not supposed to be exempt from paying sales tax unless you are reselling the parts in most states. There is no need to separate the sales tax from anything you spend for parts and service. You can separate the sales tax you paid on the purchase of the truck. You can always find a bookkeeper or accountant who works with trucking companies or owner operators. There are some deductions that some might over look unless they are familiar with the industry.

 

The 2290 doesn't run on a calender year. It runs from August 1 through July 31 of the next year. You must fill out a form in my state and have a MC number to qualify for the sales tax exemption. It doesn't necessarily mean that you need to use your own MC number. I was told that even if I leased to another carrier I could still receive the exemption if I used their MC number. If you had to pay sales tax when you registered your truck your state may not offer the exemption. Not all states offer that exemption. I have addresses in two states. I was going to register in the other state until I found that I would need to pay sales tax. Sales tax in my home state is over 9% so that could be a considerable amount of money.

 

Anything that you can save is a good thing. I wish we had the exemption on parts and service.