tax writeoffs for full timers who work from road

[Zhidoni]

Hi Folks
need advice from those who have experiencewith this issue. My wife and i are full timers, and we both have businesses. (she sells buttons & designer fabrics, I do websites and e-marketing consulting)
We are wondering how people in our situation are handling such things as rv park and camping fees, fuel costs, maintenance, repairs. We have chosen not to write off the actual cost of the rv. And, does anyone know of any other online resources for info, eg technomadia?
thanks!!

[Cocky_Camper]

1) I would speak to a CPA or a trusted tax preparer. I work for a CPA firm, but not a CPA yet. It is scary at what people do that use Turbotax or other self prepared softwares. Just because you think that you can do it, or you think the answer to the question is yes doesn't mean that it is correct.

[ajriding]

Being full-timers make it complicated. I used my RV almost exclusively for work related travel (to save on hotel cost, or to have a "home" while in places too remote to stay in a hotel). Everything I did in the RV was for work, so this was easy to assess for tax purposes.

Because your Rv is your home, then you would live in it 365 anyway, so what days are left to write off anything there? None I imagine. But travel is travel, and you can write off cents per mile, or in a bad-mpg RV maybe write off actual gas expense and calculate other cost based on miles according to irs tax code. I was better writing off miles than actual cost.

From the time you leave to go to that far-off work location to the time you get back there are things you can write off like meals, and that amt varies depending on where you are in the country, or parking fees (maybe campgrounds, since you likely are paying rent back home too), tolls, convention ticket prices, supplies for work, or things you know more about than us.

To the guy that wrote off every expense.... That works until you get an audit, then you might be sorry. I tend to error on the side.favor/benefit of the irs, not on my side when in doubt about any write-off. Many things I could write off I do not because Im scared of those people.

I drive 30,000 miles per year for work, so that is a huge write off by itself, so I don't need to go looking for iffy write-offs. Get an accountant .

[Tax_Man]

Zhidoni wrote:
Hi Folks
need advice from those who have experiencewith this issue. My wife and i are full timers, and we both have businesses. (she sells buttons & designer fabrics, I do websites and e-marketing consulting)
We are wondering how people in our situation are handling such things as rv park and camping fees, fuel costs, maintenance, repairs. We have chosen not to write off the actual cost of the rv. And, does anyone know of any other online resources for info, eg technomadia?
thanks!!

You need a new tax guy. He should know or get the information you need. irs.gov for publications.

This is for all who are self-employed: Get Publications 334, 535, and 529. These will answer those questions. It is what I use for all that stuff. I do not rely on a "tax professional" only. My CPA is often called with questions.

You may also have local and state taxes to deal with. This will depend on where your clients and maybe you are when conducting business. Example: if you are in California and earn money they want their cut...

When in doubt check it out..

----------
I am a retired IRS Revenue Officer and an Enrolled Agent. I offer the above as an individual and it is not legal or professional advice. It is what I do. (Note this is kind of a standard disclaimer for tax professionals)....

[Bill_Satellite]

I traveled in my RV for over 12 years and wrote off nearly every expense. I could verify the travel was required. We traveled from RV show to RV show and setup a booth and sold our goods. If that's the kind of business you are doing then it's pretty simple. If you plan to sell stuff on E-Bay and you claim all of your travels and camping were a required part of your business, you are either going to have to pay and pay and pay or go to jail!

[wanderingbob]

I have found that tax advice is better on lawn mower or fishing forums . I am writing from a Federal prison in Florida .

[David_and_Chris]

If you are an Itinerant worker, i.e. no permanent physical home, you will not be able to claim travel expenses. This is per IRS Regulations. You really should talk to an EA.

David

[valhalla360]

While I agree with talk to a professional....

Unless you can tie your travels to the business, you are really looking at a standard home office deduction which as someone mentioned, is tough if you can't establish a dedicated office space.

Fuel, oil changes, campground fees are going to be a tough sell to the IRS. What you need is evidence that the travel is business related. If you traveled to various "button" conventions and had a booth at said conventions, then you could claim you were traveling to the convention and the cost to do so (within reasonable limits) is deductible.

Example: We travel nearly full time (both RV and internationally). The DW is a travel agent, so her portion of the trips can legitimately be labeled as a business expense in order to familiarize herself with various destinations. We don't do it for tax purposes but we tend to discuss if a destination if viable for a group and how we would set it up. Then she sends individuals and groups to those destinations, so we can support that the travel relates to business.

Can you relate how your RV travel relates to creating or continuing your business, beyond just getting a tax deduction?

[philh]

Zhidoni wrote:
thanks to everyone who has taken the time to answer my question. to be clear, i was looking for ideas, not legal advice. interestingly, my tax guy is less informed about this issue than many of you are. I think my main take-away is that i will not be deducting any rv parking fees, fuel, maintenance, etc, with the exception of a specific destination we visit solely for business. in that case, we rent a car, pay for client lunches, event fees, and an rv park. i will deduct those.

Then you have the wrong tax guy if you believe he is less informed.

From my very limited knowledge of tax law I learned in prison, your tax guy is spot on.

[Yosemite_Sam1]

jorbill2or wrote:

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
The rule is "related business expenses".

Examples: A room converted into an office devoted to running your business. Proportionately tax deductible calculating from total rental paid or the depreciation of your house.

Gas to deliver your product or meet the client. Again, proportionate cost in depreciation if you are using your car for your business.

I don't know how campground fees can be deductible since land is already part of a lease rental in an alternative scenario that you are renting an office or a factory for production.

In our case during an event campground fees are no different than a hotel rental while attending a business conference . we do NOT deduct year round campground fees, only while at a specific event.

Yeah, that's allowed legitimate business expenses. Also those campsites that you would stay overnight on the way to and from the conference site. Also the meals taken for this purpose specially receipted and taken in eateries, diners and restaurants.

[gotsmart]

Zhidoni wrote:
... i was looking for ideas, not legal advice. interestingly, my tax guy is less informed about this issue than many of you are. ...

get a new tax guy.

[Bill_Satellite]

Despite the fact that I ran a business from my RV for over 12 years, I would not begin to offer advice on what YOU should do. I hired a very good CPA and sent him all of my income and all of my expenses. If he said I had to pay, I paid. If I got a refund that was a bonus (not sure I ever got a refund!).
Don't ask for life changing advice on a forum (any forum) as taking that wrong advice can bankrupt you. Seek legal accounting advice!

[westernrvparkow]

Among the criteria for making a home office deductible is that the office must be used exclusively for business and only that portion of the home may be deducted. For example, you actually have a dedicated office of 200 square feet in a 2000 sq ft home you can apply 10% of the utility bills and using a depreciation table for value of the home taking 10% of that depreciation for business expenses. However when you sell that home you have to recapture that depreciation as a long term gain (assuming when you sell the home and allocate 10% of the sales price to the office the amount is greater than the depreciated value of that office, which will be the case if you sell your home for the purchase price or greater).
If the RV is your only home, the first stumbling block will be dedicating a portion of the RV to exclusive usage as an office. The IRS will likely disallow such a claim unless the office is in a separate room.
In my opinion, it would take a really unique business situation to make it worth the while for a full timer to try and make a portion of their RV a qualified, tax deductible home office.

[Flute_Man]

Whether you have a home on wheels or a stick house the tax consequences would be the same.

[Zhidoni]

thanks to everyone who has taken the time to answer my question. to be clear, i was looking for ideas, not legal advice. interestingly, my tax guy is less informed about this issue than many of you are. I think my main take-away is that i will not be deducting any rv parking fees, fuel, maintenance, etc, with the exception of a specific destination we visit solely for business. in that case, we rent a car, pay for client lunches, event fees, and an rv park. i will deduct those.