smartphone for business, write off?

J

jose206

New member
I'm looking to buy a google nexus one phone for my business, this phone would be great for staying updated on all my emails, uploading videos directly to youtube for my customers to see some of my work, sending invoices from my freshbooks account and more. Would I be able to write off all $575 i would have to pay for this phone after tax? also would I be able to write off my cell phone plan? I just got licensed last year so I dont know much about how this stuff works when it comes to doing my taxes. Thanks in advance!
 
I don't do detailing as my line of work, but I am INC'd for my line of work (music business, production manager, instrument tech), and you can write this stuff off if you are running your own business. Currently the tax code is kinda a gray area pertaining to cell phones. It used to be if you had a home phone (whether it was a business line or not), it couldn't be deducted, but your cell phone could be. Now since more people are ditching the home phone for cell phone, it's a gray area. If your accountant is worth is fee he'll make it work for you. What they do is a depreciated value over 5 years of the equipment, and write it off your taxes. Then they can take a percentage of your phone bill (as long as you use it 51% for business purposes).



Besides this, you can write off your mileage at 55 cents a mile this year I believe, any maintenance that was done to your vehicle can be wrote off. Anything for work clothes (uniforms), materials such as polish. Lodging if you did an out of state detail, meals those days are covered by a Per Diem the IRS allows, etc. Writing off your internet service at home can be done too, but it's a hard to justify one, cause would you have it if you didn't do detailing? Probably, but if you are a work from home cyber commuter for at least half of your job, you can!



And I can't stress this enough, KEEP ALL YOUR RECEIPTS. You may never need them, but if you get audited it's good to have your butt covered. Start adding all your stuff up in a spreadsheet separated by different categories (Tools, Food, Parking, Cell bill, etc), and take that to your accountant and have them do the numbers. Well worth it.
 
My Blackberry smart phone for my business in the US was not a write off, but was capitalized and deducted through depreciations or amortizations. The CPA that I hired to do my business tax states that my blackberry has a useful life of around 3 years. Things of this nature could not be deducted immediately.



The same tax treatment goes for my computers, printers, and the LED TV in my office.



To be honest, if the smart phone is not of material importance (say over $800) relative to the size of your business, the IRS wouldn't bother you for it.
 
the_invisible said:
My Blackberry smart phone for my business in the US was not a write off, but was capitalized and deducted through depreciations or amortizations. The CPA that I hired to do my business tax states that my blackberry has a useful life of around 3 years. Things of this nature could not be deducted immediately.



The same tax treatment goes for my computers, printers, and the LED TV in my office.



To be honest, if the smart phone is not of material importance (say over $800) relative to the size of your business, the IRS wouldn't bother you for it.
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HAHA, that's funny. He thinks his crackberry will last 3 years. ;)
 
Just get it already, I love my Nexus One! The screen is to die for and it is the fastest phone I have ever used, makes a 3gs look like its standing still.
 
If you use your phone for a business purpose, which you do, yes you can write it off. Also you can write off your bill, it may not be the whole bill but hey might as well write as much off as you can!



Let us know what you end up doing.
 
the_invisible said:
My Blackberry smart phone for my business in the US was not a write off, but was capitalized and deducted through depreciations or amortizations. The CPA that I hired to do my business tax states that my blackberry has a useful life of around 3 years. Things of this nature could not be deducted immediately.



The same tax treatment goes for my computers, printers, and the LED TV in my office.



To be honest, if the smart phone is not of material importance (say over $800) relative to the size of your business, the IRS wouldn't bother you for it.
Click to expand...

More importantly, what about the monthly bill ? Honestly, a one time $500 fee that (for most people) will only happen once every ~2 years, isn't really enough money to make a fuss over. The $50+ monthly bill however, is.
 
You have to be careful with things like cell phones. The IRS looks for people who write off semi-personal things like cell phones. If you do write it off, it has to be used 100% for business purposes. Otherwise, you would have to figure the percentages that you use it for personal versus business. Because I use my cell for both business and personal use, I do not even bother to write it off.
 
Bought it and boy am I glad I did. Good to know I can write it off. I use freshbooks and plan on using this phone for my invoices. I hope autopia and autogeek make an android application like autogeek did for the iPhone.
 
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