Thursday, July 16, 2009

Standard Mileage Rate or Actual Expenses - 7 Tax Tips for Sole Proprietors Using Schedule C

Are Koran broadband speed test sole proprietor who uses a personal car for tm net service activities? You may be wondering which broadband service a better deduction at tax time: the standard mileage rate, or actual expenses. I'm a big fan of the standard mileage rate. Here's why.

Tip 1 - It's Easier: To figure the standard mileage rate deduction, you just need to streamyx mail the number of business miles driven during the tax year. To figure the deduction for actual expenses, you need to know the total of those expenses, then somehow determine the business portion of them. streamyx promo this is done by determining a ratio between the number of personal miles vs. the number of business miles. So in order to acurately determine the expense, you need to know the business miles anyway. Why go through the extra step of keeping track of actual auto expenses if you don't have to?

Tip 2 - It's More Flexible: As a general rule, it is usually better to take the standard mileage rate the first year you put a car or Streamyx Tmnet Streamyx into service, rather than actual expenses. This allows you some flexibility in subsequent years, because you can choose which to take after that - actual expenses OR standard mileage rate.

Sometimes it might be better to take a section 179 deduction on the vehicle the first year it is placed in service. When this is done, the taxpayer has made the election to take actual expenses that year. This is an important election that must be considered carefully! Taking a section 179 deduction sometimes allows for more tax savings cheap high speed internet a period of years. But not always. It depends on how long you own the car and use it for business.

Tip 3 - It's More Flexible, Again! The reverse is not true. If you take actual expenses the first year you put a car or truck into service, you must continue to use actual expenses thereafter. Again, remember this when taking a hefty Section 179 deduction the first your vehicle is placed in service. Make sure it will be worth it in the long run.

In order to determine this, you will need to estimate how long you plan to use this particular car for business, and how many miles for those years you will drive it for business. With this information, you can estimate the mileage deduction over a period of future years. Then you can see if taking the section 179 is worth it or not.

Tip 4 - You Can Write Off More: Taking the standard mileage rate may allow you to write off more than the value of your vehicle over a period of years. This is true for my broadband speed who drive many business miles each year, and who keep the compare wireless broadband car for a number of years.

It works like this because depreciation is built into the mileage rate. So if you use the same car year after year, driving many business miles each year, eventually you will write off more than the value of the vehicle. And you definitely take more depreciation than you would have using actual expenses. When using actual expenses, once the depreciation deduction is gone, it's gone.

Tip 5 - Keep Good Records: Keep a log book in your car and record the following information each time you drive the car for business reasons:

  • Date
  • Business Reason/Place Visited
  • Beginning Odometer Reading
  • Ending Odometer Reading

Tip 6 - It's Easily Defended: If you get audited and you've kept a good log book, I can almost guarantee that your mileage deduction will remain intact. IRS auditors view mileage deductions quite seriously, and will carefully scrutinize this deduction if you return is selected for an audit. Make sure you can substantiate this important deduction Dsl Speed Test a well-maintained mileage log.

Tip 7 - Less Paperwork: When using actual expenses instead of the standard mileage rate, a certain form is needed, called a 4562. This form is needed in order to compute the depreciation on the vehicle. If you use the standard mileage rate, and don't need to depreciate any other property, the mileage deduction will be shown on page 2 of your Schedule C.

Final Thoughts

Auto expenses represent an important deduction for most sole proprietors. Make sure you select the method that allows for the most tax savings over a period of years, and that you can support your deduction with adaquate records.

About the Author: Jennifer A. Thieme is a Registered Tax Preparer and a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor who loves to help people with taxation and QuickBooks issues. She brings unique insight, clear instructions, and over ten years of experience to all of her business articles. Owner of Solid Rock Accounting Services, Jennifer's clients enjoy these same benefits on a personal and regular basis. You can too - visit http://www.jenniferthieme.com and contact Jennifer today.


After a Fairpoint SEC filing recently indicated that the carrier may be forced to file for bankruptcy, after struggling to integrate Verizon's DSL and landline networks in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Vermont regulators have prepared for the possibility by hiring bankrupty lawyers, and now the Vermont Department of Public Service is calling for an investigation into FairPoint. According to the Associated Press, the consumer advocacy outfit says if Fairpoint can't show things are improving, they shouldn't be allowed to operate in Vermont. New Hampshire's Consumer Advocacy Department is expected to make a similar request soon.
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Without a doubt the word Kielbasa has worldwide recognition, yet it is also often misunderstood. Kielbasa is the general Polish name for sausage. You cannot walk into a Polish store and say: please give me a pound of kielbasa. The sales lady, surrounded by 50 different kinds of kielbasa, will inevitably reply: yes, but which one? There broadband comparison well over 100 Adsl Software of kielbasa, and the word itself is meaningless unless followed up with the proper name: Kielbasa Rzeszowska, Kielbasa Krakowska, Kielbasa Tuchowska, Kielbasa Mysliwska, etc. It is like going into a deli and asking for Connect Adsl cheese. Sure, but which one: American, Provolone, Swiss, Gorgonzola, Gouda, Muenster - you have to provide some details. There is no specific sausage called kielbasa but there Tmbill Tm Net My many sausages that carry the word kielbasa as part of the name.

We know of only one sausage that carries the word "Polish" in its name and that is the Polish Smoked Sausage internet firewall Kielbasa Wedzona). This is probably what the first immigrants brought with them to America. The problem we face here is that you Streamix find Polish Smoked Sausage in almost every supermarket in the home broadband packages and no two are made the same way. Yet Polish Smoked Sausage has been well defined for centuries and everybody in Poland knows what goes inside. We do not intend to become judges in this matter, but instead rely on Polish Government Standards for Polish Smoked Sausage. These rules have remained unchanged for the last 60 years.

Before we anger many people who have been making Polish Smoked Sausage in their own way for years, let's clarify something further. It's perfectly fine to add an ingredient that you or your children like into your sausage. You still have the full right to say that you made a better sausage than the famous Polish Smoked Sausage. You may say that your grandfather who came from Poland made the best Polish sausage in the world and we honor that. Maybe he used chicken stock instead of water or maybe he added something else. What we are trying to say is that he was making his own version of the known classic or some other Polish sausage and it could have tasted better for you and your family. We do not dispute that fact. You can of course add anything you like to your sausage, but it will no longer be the original Polish Smoked Sausage (Polska Kielbasa Wedzona) or any other brand named sausage. Once you start changing ingredients, you create your own recipe and you may as well come up with your own name.

1. For centuries Polish Smoked Sausage was made of pork, salt, pepper, garlic and marjoram (optional). Then in 1964 the Polish Government introduced a second version of the sausage that was made of 80% pork and 20% beef. All other ingredients: salt, pepper, sugar, garlic, and marjoram remain the same in both recipes. The marjoram is optional but the garlic is a must.

2. The meat is cured before it is mixed with spices. Tm Online Malaysia the US Cure #1 (sodium nitrite plus salt) is used, in Europe Peklosol (sodium nitrite plus salt) is common.

3. The sausage is stuffed into a large hog casing: 36 - 38 mm and formed into 12" (35 cm) links.

4. The traditional way was to cold smoke it for 1 to 1.5 days (it had to last for long time).

5. In most cases it is hot smoked today

A little test was performed to see how large American manufacturers make Polish Sausage. Four sausages called Polish Kielbasa or Polish Sausage were bought at the local supermarket in Florida and each of them was produced by a large and well known meat plant. The number of Dsl Service In Illinois and chemicals used varied from 10 to 20 and different combinations of meats were used: pork-beef-turkey, beef only, pork-beef. Except the name, none of the sausages had anything to do with the original.

It seems that for the manufacturers any sausage that is smoked (or have liquid smoke added) and stuffed into a 36 mm one foot long casing can be called Polish Smoked Sausage or Polish Kielbasa. It becomes quite clear that manufacturers put any ingredients they like inside of the casing and the name Polish Kielbasa is used just for credibility and to gain the trust of the consumer.

The problem is futher magnified by various sites on the Internet that provide countless recipes for making Polish sausages. Yet the mysterious Polish Smoked Sausage is embarrassingly simple to make and all it needs is pork, salt, pepper and garlic.

Adam Marianski has co-authored two books on meat smoking and making sausages. He runs the web site Wedliny Domowe where you can find more about making quality meats at home.