Tax Claims
cfrey6
Registered Users Posts: 114 Major grins
I am using Tax Act and I have entered in my profit from the 1099-MISC. Now, I am adding in my expenses, such as gas mileage (standard rate), advertising, repair costs, supplies, etc...
What do you people claim?
Right now, would lenses and camera bodies qualify as supplies? I did buy the camera body and lens during the 2006 year.
What do you people claim?
Right now, would lenses and camera bodies qualify as supplies? I did buy the camera body and lens during the 2006 year.
0
Comments
Lenses and camera bodies need to be depreciated over a period of several years (form 4562). I'm not familiar with Tax Act, but if you're serious about this, you'll want a professional tax preparer. It's a little like grandma shooting a wedding with her point and shoot (that's you preparing your own taxes) and a pro with a years of experience, an assistant, and a couple of 1Ds's (that's the tax preparer) shooting the same wedding.
Sure, both people will end up with photos...
One big difference, of course, is if grandma screws up the wedding photos, the IRS won't audit her!
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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It looks like you can claim it all the same year if you want and meet the standards listed. I have always claimed the full amount for my equipment the same year. Because this is not a primary job things are a little different then if it was.
My 2 cents...Chris
You're correct too, Chris. I've done it that way in the past with no problems. That's the weird thing about federal taxes-- you can get 20 different professionals to prepare your return, they can each prepare a different return-- and yet all twenty of those returns can end up being legal.
The advantage of a professional preparing your return, though, is that if you find someone good, they'll work with and help you develop a long-term tax strategy that will reduce your taxes over time, rather than just for one year. It depends on how complicated and how much of a business you intend to develop around your photography-- sometimes it makes more financial sense long-term to depreciate-- sometimes the one-time deduction makes sense. That's where a professional can really help.
Whew-- what a tax system! You get to pay someone to figure out how much you have to pay the government. I'd be willing to bet there's not a single member of congress who prepares their own taxes. And aren't they the folks who write the tax laws?
Okay, okay, just a little pre-tax day ranting. Why can't everything related to photography simply be tax-exempt?
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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