tax-cell phone question

This is my first year of MS shopping. I have a basic cell phone but see the good points of smartphone and MS shopping. I am thinking of making the leap and I'm wondering if I will be able to deduct a portion of a smartphone from my taxes. This change will increase my phone bill by $30 a month.

I also posted a tax question in the new shoppers area about health insurance deduction but not sure many people in the know read that forum.

Help!! LOL.

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mnarteach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is my first year of MS shopping. I have a
> basic cell phone but see the good points of
> smartphone and MS shopping. I am thinking of
> making the leap and I'm wondering if I will be
> able to deduct a portion of a smartphone from my
> taxes. This change will increase my phone bill by
> $30 a month.
>
> I also posted a tax question in the new shoppers
> area about health insurance deduction but not sure
> many people in the know read that forum.
>
> Help!! LOL.

Have you looked at Republic Wireless? I pay $20 per month for unlimited everything, including calls, data and texting. You shouldn't have to spend X + $30 for phone service anymore. You can deduct the business portion of your phone service, but that hardly moves the needle. I don't deduct it because I commingle business and personal use, plus it is too small to worry about (if I were audited, they are going to want me to separate personal use from business use. The savings from deducting would not pay me for my time in the event of an audit).

Shopping since 1995; full-time since 2009. Blogging about shopping on www.myfrugalmiser.com.

I have been reading and shopping phones but I also make calls to places that need good coverage because otherwise it drops. I have not looked at Republic Wireless and wonder if their coverage is good or spotty etc. thoughts?

I don't have a smartphone, either, and really should, not only for mystery shopping but for my regular online business, since I need to check my sites frequently and my dumbphone is so slow when accessing the internet. I also don't have a data plan, I just pay by usage (which is still cheaper than the data plan).

So I've been checking into new cell phones and plans, too, and was looking at Consumer Cellular--does anyone use them? I'm off to check Republic Wireless--sounds like it might be a good deal! Thanks to Jonk for the tip!

As far as tax deduction, I take a percentage of my cell-phone expense in proportion to the amount I use it for business. My cell number is the one posted on my website for people to call, so it's a legitimate expense, but I do use it for personal use as well, so I split the cost up and don't deduct the personal usage percentage.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2013 08:17PM by BirdyC.

I'm wondering about the coverage as far as areas I travel too etc. I need something reliable. I think the Republic Wireless is on the sprint network but will check it out.

For me coverage and reliability trumps the cost.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

Sprint has very poor coverage. I am trying to break my contract as I have a cheap Trac phone to have coverage for phone contacts anywhere. No bars, dropped calls, are the norm with Sprint in this area. Look carefully at their coverage map before you leap. I have been in contact with them about this and heard every excuse in the book. Example: Summerfest was going on and took up all the band width, cell tower is down, holiday cell traffic. I hope to be done with them soon. But, I will be writing this phone off as a business expense, as I have had another phone for years for personal use.

I have no troubles with StraighTalk. Got a Galaxie thru Walmart. About 43.00 month. I pay 3 months in advance $135 and have terrific service. Never a problem. Unlimited calls, text, and data. You can also get a limited plan for 30.00 a month. This is thru Verizon I think.

Republic runs off the Sprint network. I should also note the plan I am on is $25 for new subscribers as they upped the price recently. Here in Florida it works everywhere; when I was shopping in Wyoming and rural Nebraska in October I barely had service anywhere. Fortunately the service runs off wifi too so you can pull into McDonald's or Starbucks to make calls if you don't have coverage.

Shopping since 1995; full-time since 2009. Blogging about shopping on www.myfrugalmiser.com.

I bought my smartphone only for mystery shopping purposes. If I didn't mystery shop I really would have no use for it. However, it is VERY difficult to claim 100% business use for a cellphone and I claim 80% for mine which is still really high.

I also would have no use for a smartphone otherwise. How did you decide how much to claim? I thought perhaps the extra $30 it would add to my bill might be deductible but not the whole bill. I also use my phone to do about 60 phone shops a month.

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