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Fee vs reimbursement and tax write off

October 27, 2015 04:34AM
@johnb974 wrote:

It is a job for me, I am registered as an Independent Contractor. I'm doing this almost full time.
Every time I see a post from this person, he has another "career" change. One minute he is working at Walmart; next minute he is a home health aide or something. He changes "careers" more than some people change their underwear.
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More About Reimbursements
October 27, 2015 04:36AM
@johnb974 wrote:

@bgriffin wrote:

No, because nobody in their right mind would do a shop for $13 that required you to spend $26. The absolute most you could probably get away with is $13.

You didn't answer the question, you just gave an opinion. I need an answer to the write off question.
Take a crowbar to that wallet of yours and go hire a professional tax adviser. Geesh!

Oh ya, you CAN write that off on your taxes as a BUSINESS expense.
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October 27, 2015 05:46AM
Guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow for an answer....this needs an adult answer...no adults around here tonight.
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October 28, 2015 12:58AM
Two of the same exact threads in two different sections of the forum. Really?

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Albert Einstein
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November 02, 2015 03:14AM
If you asked someone at the IRS you can't be guaranteed THEY'LL give you the correct answer to your question (and they have a lot of experience dealing with tax issues). What makes you think that members of this Forum can do better than people who deal with taxes for a living?

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt
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November 02, 2015 03:20AM
@KathyG wrote:

If you asked someone at the IRS you can't be guaranteed THEY'LL give you the correct answer to your question (and they have a lot of experience dealing with tax issues). What makes you think that members of this Forum can do better than people who deal with taxes for a living?

AMEN! An IRS agent will not tell you something is or is not allowed. They will offer to send you the Publication that 'covers' your issue and when you point out that it does NOT cover the issue they will then only slightly paraphrase the text of that publication to ask you "Well did you do this?" "Well did you do that?" but they will come to no conclusion for you at all. And of course this comes after you have waited on hold twice for at least 45 minutes because the first time someone disconnected you.
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November 02, 2015 07:05AM
@johnb974 wrote:

I posted asking a question on write off for reimbursements. I looked at the shops and realized something. The $13 is a fee (payment for the shop) not a reimbursement. For this shop you are required to purchase 3 clothing items, and return 1. You are paid a fee of $13. Are the two items you have to buy, a write off? Before I thought the $13 was reimbursement, it's not. There's no cost limits on the two items you have to buy. Since it's a requirement for the assignment to buy two items, is there any limit to the amount? The fee and reimbursements are two different things for write offs.
If I buy 3 shirts for $13 each, bring back one, can I write off the $26 for the other two? Can I buy 1 shirt for $13, other for $50 and write off the full $63?

I am confused about this shop from the get go...above on your first post you say it is a $13 fee and then halfway through the thread it became a $13 reimbursement. In my experience with shops a reimbursement is different than a fee and is limited to the amt spent if below the max reimbursement. There are also shops with flat fees where you purchase what you are required to using part of the fee...and then what you purchase is deductible up to the amt of the fee as I understand the tax code. I do not think any of us can truly answer your question correctly if the rules of the shop as you tell them keep changing...and you have never said a word about whether or not the store had items for less than the $26 you spent.
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