I was recently audited, I work for a railroad and am required to have a phone, so I claimed it as an employee business expense, it was disallowed in the audit, I was allowed to deduct my cell phone but not the home line.
In addition I keep a vehicle at my away from home terminal to use when I eat, it is not required but the company does not provide a way to get meals at the away fromhome terminal. The vehicle mileage log I keep was also disallowed.
Other employees have been audited and were allowed the exact same deductions, there seems to be no consistency in the field auditors. Are these deductions valid in my case or is the auditor correct?

I itemize deductions and have hundreds of receipts. My CPA always complains that I send my return in too disorganized to complete in a timely fashion. What can I do to organize more efficiently for my CPA?

Is it worth while to put receipts in order by date? or is it better to categorize them into "Medical", "Business Expense", "Real Estate", etc…?

I want my CPA to be happy to get my tax stuff this year!!

I don’t know whether I can write off this 00 cost as a business expense or if I have to depreciate it over 20? years. Room is used exclusively as home office; I take office in home deduction

I just received a letter from the IRS stating that I need to provide more information about my Employee Business Expense, and certain miscellaneous Deductions which can be found on form 2106 lines 20,21,22. Most of which relates to vehicle mileage for a car that I do not own anymore.
It states that I need to submit the following, and then lists 8 different bullet points of different things (some of which I dont’ have). Am I expected to provide everything listed, or can I just provide what I have, for example a copy of the mileage, and that will suffice.

I plan to call my tax preparer tomorrow, but wanted to see if anyone had any insight as to what I can expect from here.

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you

there is a local bar my wife works at and i’m offering to build them a website to promote their many different events. if they agree to pay me and i do this, can they claim the website and the money they pay me as a deduction? business expense?

is it nescessary to get a tax ID to make some deductions? I consult and make 5k in the summer and I want to deduct the use of my house as a business expense. Do i need a tyax ID to do that? What are the benefits of obtaining one?

Hello,
I worked as a real estate agent for a brief period of time last year, didn’t make any sale and thus no income, however can I still deduct business expense associated with my time as an agent when I file my tax this year? That’s my first year filing tax on my own and any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I worked in NYC.
To Chris Poo: in sales, you incur expense before you make a sales (eg. advertising, gas mileage to get to destination, postage cards, etc.)
My main concern is since I didn’t make any money, those expenses are still valid for deduction even though it didn’t associate with any income?

For a 1099 contractor during 2006, is the business expense calculated from schedule C be counted as "credits" or "itemized deduction"?

I’d like to use the standard dection, because stanadard deduction is higher than itemized deduction. If I do that can I write off business expense as "Credits" on line 9 of Form 1040-ES to reduce my estimated tax?

I just received a state tax audit letter regarding my business expense deduction – graduate tuition which I followed the instruction from Turbo Tax. If it is a mistake, I wouldn’t mind to pay up the difference I owe. My question is that if I need a tax professional to help me go through the process, is it somethings I should be panic about? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all.

I have a BA in Music and plan to start part time employment working for myself (playing, teaching, etc.) I have reviewed IRS Publication 970 (http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch13.html) and based on this am confident that I can get a Masters in Music, and treat it as a business expense, assuming that I am already working. (Reason: it further trains me in a job that I am already working at rather than preparing me for a new job.)

However, I am also planning to save up for the Masters Degree before I start. It seems reasonable to save for the degree in a 529 plan so I can avoid taxes on any gains or interest (and my state, Maryland, also provides a tax deduction for the contributions to the plan).

My question is: Can I both save for tuition using a 529 (and get those tax breaks while I am saving) and also claim the (part-time) educational expense as a business deduction (to get the tax breaks offsetting my earnings after I pay the tuition)?

Thanks
Dale