RV Business Expenses

[Bzeitham]

We are looking at working on the road. The question is when we are on the road in a motor home, what all can we write off as business expenses? The cost of travel? The cost of the motor home? Food and campground expenses? We have found what might be the ideal situation for us to travel, make some income to support us. Anyone able to provide any input?

Thanks in advance...

[tatest]

Talk to a tax professional. You will be overlapping two general business expense categories, those for travel, and those for operating a business from a home. The former gets into "is the travel for business?" questions which are usually straightforward but the latter tends to get messy with high risk of audit to sort out details of what is business, what is just living.

[wanderingbob]

RV lot rental is deductible if necessary in " the normal course of your trade " , the same as a motel would be . Food on the road is deductible if you are on road for minimum 24 hours , think over the road truck drivers . Just about anything is deductible if necessary for your business . We traveled a circuit for 30 years with a CAT team working storms and fires , was audited three times and it held up . I always took the mileage deduction rather than expenses cause it was easier and easier to prove .

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Once a few years ago I was audited.

I asked the auditor if there was any reason that I was picked for an audit. He told me that since I was self-employed running a business from my home - that raised my risk of audit to 75-80% change I would be audited each year.

Claiming business expenses for your RV certainly will raise your likelyhood of being called in for an audit.

I've talked to several people who live and work from their RV, and almost all do not claim any expenses related to traveling, RV maintenance, etc. Most only claim direct expenses such as advertising, cost of materials or product which is resold, etd. The prevailing view is to not try to write off anything related to their home which is the RV.

Some do write off expenses for a trailer they pull which is solely dedicated the business. Not the expense of transporting the trailer, just direct acquisition of the trailer and maintenance.

But as mentioned above - talk to a CPA. It will be well worth your time / cost.

[Lwiddis]

"what all can we write off as business expenses?"

Business expenses. Example - Breakfast isn't a business expense - you eat whether in "business" or not. Example - New tire for your RV (like replacing a home water heater) isn't a business expense. Example - RV park fee (house rent) isn't a business expense.

[WTP-GC]

Seriously, almost everything is available as a business write-off...if you have a legitimate business (or at least one that remotely resembles a legitimate business). You have to think about the scale of things. For the stuff being discussed by the OP, you going to be doing this to effect of saving several thousand dollars at most?? I like to think about the worst case scenario in the event that your write-offs are scrutinized. In the most extreme case, the IRS will audit you and find out that you owe XXX dollars of taxes based on the "unapproved" write-offs. So the IRS picks you out of tens of thousands and makes you pay back a grand in taxes? And as long as you comply, you won't be in trouble.

However, here's one way I would approach it. I would reimburse myself from the company for every mile driven at the max allowable rate (more for towing). I would also assign per diem at the max rate (based on federal guidelines). Plus direct reimbursement for overnight hotel stays (based on location) is also legitimate. With those 3 factors alone, you can receive tons of tax-free income without even getting a sniff from the IRS.

But, as always, meticulous record keeping is key.

[NYCgrrl]

Go to a CPA in your state and find out all the deductions available federally and statewide to you.
Best answer I can think of.

[coolmom42]

Definitely speak to a CPA about this, and have a CPA prepare your taxes. Generally business travel mileage is a legit expense, but if you are not REQUIRED to travel, it may be a different story. Find out exactly what records you need to keep and do it carefully. Best thing you can do is get set up with Quickbooks, and separate accounts for the business, from your personal expenses.

[stew47]

Lol accsys is right. Go talk to an accountant. It's that important and you don't want surprises. Now I did run a small business and what I remember was meals and entertainment is you can claim 50 percent. Vehicles you can claim mileage or all vehicle expenses. You keep track of both and claim the better one. Any expense to derive incom is usually allowed. That's my free advice and I wouldn't bet anything on any of it. Good luck!! If I could work on the road I'd be gone. Wife and kids love th idea but I can't :(.

[accsys]

You will probably receive a lot of advice here - worth about what you paid for it. Some of it "may" be from a tax professional giving you tax advice "free" but most of it will be from others who will tell you the way they wish it was and have no real professional knowledge to base that on. If you are serious about this, you should pay for your advice from a tax professional you trust and they will give you good info about how to do this and what records you will need to keep in order to qualify.