abnerjack ...
I fully understand why you ended up hating tax law.
The U.S. tax code consists of over 70,000 pages and contains over nine million words. It is in constant flux. Five different CPAs can come up with five different answers to the same question. Even the IRS is not liable for any advice they give the taxpayer.
My conclusion was always ... If I buy it for business, use it solely for business, then it is a business write-off. Admittedly, I did take advantage of every opportunity available to me in the tax code, which I believed to be my patriotic duty.
I was audited one time. The auditor was a very nice man whose name was "Theodore."
After going through everything on my tax return, "Theodore" nailed me for my cell phone expenses. I had written off 90% of my phone use as a business expense on my Schedule "C" form. I freely admitted to "Theodore" that 90% was an estimate, but an accurate one.
"Theodore" was kind enough to point out that I had failed to keep an IRS required phone log of every call I had made. He said that if I wanted to write off cell phone expenses, I am expected to keep track of each call ... from the time the client answers the call to the time the call is completed, with dates, times, names of the clients, etc.
"Theodore" allowed 10% of the phone expenses, and gave me a bill for the rest, which I paid right away.
Hear this ... Ceasar insists that all financial confessions are to be in minute detail, so don’t mess it up. Quite frankly, I think a prudent question would be ... why do Americans continue to put up with this?
Disclosure: I’ve been retired for a few years now and no longer run a business. So, don’t take any advice from me. Chances are, there’s been a multitude of changes made since then.
Frank
