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Question about phone bill for taxes

February 06, 2018 12:37AM
My phone has two lines , one for me and one for my wife. She obviously uses her line for personal use 100%. I use mine for personal use and my day job use about 10% and 90% for mystery shopping...how would I claim that expense? As 90% of my half?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2018 12:38AM by indianyooper.
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More About Phone Shops
February 06, 2018 12:46AM
Except it's not half. If your wife uses it 900 minutes per month and you use it 100 minutes per month, you'd actually be using it for mystery shopping only 9% of the time.

That seems a huge hassle to figure out, and a nice red flag for an auditor. You'd have to decide whether the (likely very small) deduction was worth it.

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams
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February 06, 2018 12:47AM
That makes sense. Good call out.
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February 06, 2018 12:48AM
Do you know the charge for just your line? That's the amount you want to start with -- then, if you use is 10% of the time for shopping, you'd work from that. It isn't a huge deduction, but if you're itemizing, and taking all your business expenses? Mileage, communication, etc...it can cut the taxes on your MS income some.
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February 06, 2018 12:51AM
I just looked at my numbers and it shows a net loss so I'm going to skip the phone entirely, that and it looks like a pain in the rear to figure it out only to get called out. I might have to forgo some of my mileage too it looks liike to show a profit in my first year of MSing.
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February 06, 2018 05:22PM
It's OK to show a loss in your first year (or second, or third) of being self-employed in fact, probably many or most self-employed do. Maybe not in mystery shopping, because overhead is lower than in many start-up endeavors, but you don't need to show a profit....

I'd take the phone expense this year, if it were me.... But it's not! In the event you decide to take it next year, you would indeed expense the cost according to the percentage you use the phone line for business purposes.

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