Tax write off

Discussion in 'Trucker Taxes and Truck Financing' started by YoungBloodTrucker, Dec 6, 2020.

  1. YoungBloodTrucker

    YoungBloodTrucker Bobtail Member

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    Hey Happy Holidays Truckers, YoungBlood here asking what personal things could I write off ?

    The down payment for truck
    TVC ( Driver Legal )
    Verizon (cell phone plan) / should I switch the plan to business and pay cell phone plan out of business account

    Any recommendations or methods would be appreciated. Be safe on the road and God Bless
     
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  3. Roberts450

    Roberts450 Road Train Member

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    Best advice is find a good CPA that has a very good handle on the trucking business tax rules.
     
  4. Banker

    Banker Road Train Member

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    What Robert’s 450 said is the first and best advise for you. A good CPA will explain to you better than I will but I will try to give you the abbreviated version. You get to depreciate your actual cost of the rig over a several year time period. There are several depreciation time tables available and each person should do what their CPA recommends for their situation. It doesn’t matter if you paid cash or financed the entire amount you still get the same amount of depreciation depending on the total cost of the rig. This is a good thing and the first few years of owning a new $300,000 or newer rig $150,000 you pay very little in income tax. You are allowed to deduct every single dime that you spend in legit business expenses as a deduction. Uniforms, cell phone, internet, truck parking, hotels, and any other business related items. Keep all your receipts as you will need them if and when you are audited. If you choose to do an individual 401k like I do then you also get to deduct those expenses. Your CPA and financial advisor can explain the details of those plans and whether you should do a traditional or Roth 401k. I do a Roth for my contribution and by law my companies contribution has to be a traditional. As an owner operator you still get a deduction for every night you are on the road. I keep track of overnights in a small pocket sized calendar. The day you leave home is counted as 3/4, every day in between is 1 and the day you return is 3/4. If you are out one night at a time you get 1.5, not 1. 3/4 the day you leave and 3/4 the day you get home. That extra .5 adds up over a years time. Keep a personal vehicle log for business related miles traveled in your personal vehicle. Every single mile you travel to get parts and supplies or drive to where you park the truck to perform maintenance is deductible. Don’t write off the trips to go to work as this isn’t allowed. I do my own bookkeeping online and it takes me less than 30 minutes a month. At tax time I give my CPA a one page report that my online accounting prints at year end to do my taxes.This makes my CPA bill much less than if they did the bookkeeping also. I am leased to a carrier and they pay the fuel and hotels and deduct them on my settlements. This way I don’t have to keep all the fuel and hotel receipts. My settlements detail all fuel and hotel charges and the settlements will satisfy the IRS in an audit.
     
  5. abyliks

    abyliks Road Train Member

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    A truck is one of the greatest write offs you can have, almost everything is a write off. Talk with an accountant might help though
     
    Banker Thanks this.
  6. Derailed

    Derailed Road Train Member

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    Not sure how your business is structured but like others said, anything work related gets written off. I am a c corp and I write everything off I can under my business now. Doesn't make much sense to itemize work related things as an employee on my personal return with the new tax laws and standard deduction.
     
    slow.rider Thanks this.
  7. Final Drive

    Final Drive Road Train Member

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    Don't forget Entertainment don't you guy's have any fun....
     
  8. harlycharly55

    harlycharly55 Medium Load Member

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    What online booking app are you using, I'm buying a truck in the next couple weeks and I want to be able to keep track of everything from the beginning. Thanks
     
  9. Banker

    Banker Road Train Member

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    ProfitGauges is what I use. There may be other things you can use if you are computer savvy that are just as good, but this works for me and is cheap. They use to let you do a free trial to see if you like it or not. Quick books or something similar probably works as good. What I use is $23 a month and tailored specifically for trucking. Try it and see what you think.
     
    mwhjr1988 and harlycharly55 Thank this.
  10. GYPSY65

    GYPSY65 Road Train Member

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    In a nutshell
    Pretty much any $1 you spend to make a $1 is a write off

    Even a “ vacation “ can be a write off if you structure it correctly

    We spend a couple grand a year for our accountant and that’s for 1 truck but in the end he saves us way more

    Years ago I was in a different business and I had a brother doing the same thing

    He had some lady who worked at home do his taxes and I had a business specific accountant
    My brother paid $25,000 more in taxes and I actually made more than he did

    You really need an accountant as mentioned from others that knows your business
    The typical ones out there are maybe ok for the Walmart type employee
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2021
  11. dztruck

    dztruck Light Load Member

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    If i got fined by ifta, could that be a tax write off? Technically i had to pay it to keep my business running.
     
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