[HUG ] Re: SV: Re: On the subject of equipement cost

You are in business in the US if you engage in financial activity with the intent to make a profit. The same rules apply whether you are a multi-million dollar company or an individual who loses money most of the time. The IRS "guidelines" stipulate that you should show a profit for some years, but I don't know what is the exact number of years. Tax LAW, last I heard, did not specify that you had to always make a profit, although numerous years of losses could trigger an IRS audit. In any case, the tax laws were made for the big guys, but the little guys get to play by the same rules. There is absolutely nothing shady about taking whatever deductions you are entitled to by the rules, as long as you are not fraudulent in your declaration of income and expense. That is the difference between tax AVOIDANCE and tax EVASION.
What I really hate is the smug attitude of someone who has always collected a paycheck who says to the businessman, "Can't you just write it off?" That is money out of your pocket, no matter what the expense. A write-off is money spent, plain and simple. If you can justify it as a business expense, however, some or all of it can be deducted from the profit of your business on which taxes are paid. An expense as large as the stratospheric cost of a Hassleblad these days would probably need to be put on a deduction schedule, in which you can only show a portion of the overall expense over a few years. In these digital days, you may not be able to actually deduct all the equipment expense from your profit until long after the equipment is obsolete.
In any case, I'm neither a lawyer nor an accountant. All the money I give those gusy to keep up with the insane rules, however, is a business tax "write-off", and an absurd waste of money that I would much rather keep in my pocket!! If you are not filing an IRS Schedule C these days showing profit and loss for some kind of business, then just kiss your paycheck money goodbye as it takes wings toward the bottomless pit called Washington, D.C. 

Gary Todoroff




In the USA, You must be trying to run a business.... with verifiable
"things" that you do to maintain a business....  Then and only then can you
deduct your costs.... and yes, from your other income if it is a loss.

Buying a $75K Hasselblad or Leica S2 system, taking it off the taxes and
then doing absolutely nothing to actually run a business  ( real
advertising, some jobs, maybe a few customer meetings) will get your
deduction dumped if you get audited.

The trick it to run the business at a zero, or, better yet, $1 profit a
year.... and then run it forever......  Then you can buy a $75 Blad system
and they can not complain...... as long as you can show you used the
equipment in earning the revenue.......

I think our Tax guys are more intolerant.........than the Canadians......


Frank Filippone
red735i@xxxxxxxxxxxxx



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