Hi…I run a business out of my home and am using Tax Act to do my taxes. I completed the " Vehicle Expense" questions, which had me separate out commuting miles, from business miles and went with the standard deduction for my business miles.
The next set of questions were for "Transportation, travel, meals and entertainment". It asks for "local transportation expenses" and "Overnight travel expenses". Am I supposed to claim the same mileage that I just did with the "Vehicle Expenses" category again???? I’m totally confused.
Thanks!
I figured out what the problem was…one set of questions was for "employee" expenses, the other for "business"expenses. As employee, they go on schedule A and subject to 2% rule, as business, they go on schedule C and not subject to 2% rule. Guess I was a little too tired to catch that when I posted. Thanks everyone.

things like marriage status, you can deduct hobby expenses but not medical expenses (unless its over 2% of your income)
business can deduct their legal expenses even if they’re are at fault, but an individual can’t deduct theirs even if they are aquitted. You have to make a choice between taking the standard deduction which is less than half the poverty level or itemizing your deduction. The tax is progressive until you get to about a million dollars then suddenly its a flat tax. If your spouce dies you suddenly have to pay higher taxes. I could go on. I’d like to hear some horror stories of other countrys tax code.
another one i just had to add. Earned inocome is taxed but unearned isn’t
I have read the last years tax code and the year before it doesnt say anything about income from a hobby just expenses. If I’m wrong about unearned income then George Bush and Al Gore must be wrong for all there talk about raising the taxable minimum from 1 million to 2 million.
if you are refering to gambling winnings, well you still have to place a bet so its not really unearned but you can deduct your losses but only in the year you lost them.
the problem is the stupid tax code makers even list capital gains and interest income as unearned income.

I have a pretty standard tax return and took the standard deduction but after submitting the return came back from turbo tax indicating I had multiple vehicles and gave me several steps to correct. I re-visited my return and double-checked for accuracy. Any idea why it would have rejected this when I did not itemize any deductions?

I work for a small business. I do all of my work (except client site visits) from my home office. However, since I also use my home office for personal use during non-working hours, I assume I cannot take the home office deduction (correct)?

Here is my question regarding mileage – I’m testing this using both TaxCut and TurboTax. In both cases, when I enter my mileage, it does not seem to reduce my tax owed. When I tell the program I want to use the home office deduction, then my mileage makes a difference. If I tell it not to do the home office deduction, then my entering mileage makes no difference. So, can I only deduct my mileage if I take the home office deduction? I haven’t read anything to indicate this, but the actions of the tax software programs leads me to believe that this is the case.

I don’t know if this matters, but I itemize my deductions (mostly due to mortgage interest & real estate taxes paid). I do not take the standard deduction.
Edit – I am a W2 employee. This is less than 2% of our joint AGI, so I guess that’s why it isn’t letting me take it. Thanks for the replies!

It makes the tax code a little simpler for individuals by repealing the AMT after 2007 and expanding the standard deduction, and a bit simpler for businesses, who will trade
unnecessary tax breaks for a lower corporate tax rate. The bill’s corporate loopholeclosing measures would enhance the economy overall because fewer business decisions would be made for tax reasons (to exploit loopholes) rather than sound
economic reasons. It makes the tax code fairer by providing a larger standard deduction and tax credits low-income working people and by scaling back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.
Finally, the bill stops the dangerous pattern of the Bush administration of cutting taxes more and more and putting the cost on the national credit card. Instead, the bill pays
for the tax cuts it provides to the vast majority of Americans in a responsible way.

http://www.ctj.org/pdf/rangelbill.pdf

Thoughts?

Hello,

I am wanting to do my taxes myself this year and I am kinda confused with deductions. I am going to use "STANDARD DEDUCTION" this year and I know that I can itemize a few things like business related expenses with my standard deduction. I thought I couldn’t write off business deduction becouse it was either standard deduction or itemized deductions, this is true but I talked to a few people at jackson hewitt and they told me that I can write off business expenses with a standard deduction. I wanted to get you guys input as well as ask what are exact things I can write off for business expenses while using a standard deduction. If you have a webpage I can visit to answer my question that would be wonderful too. I know you guys are pros so thats why I am coming to you for my questions.

Thank you so much for your time and all of you input will be highly valued and used.

Take care!

I’m looking for tax software that is easy to use but good at handling somewhat complicated situations – I am partly self-employed as a 1099 contractor with a number of different organizations, and I also moved from one state to another partway through the year (so will have to file two separate part-year returns for the state taxes). I have been making quarterly estimated payments and I do not plan to claim business deductions – my expenses are so minimal that I’d rather just take the standard deduction. Still, I’d like the kind of software where it just asks me questions and then figures out which forms, schedules, etc. to fill out on its own – I used a free program (Tax Slayer, I think) last year and although I entered 1099 income I do not know if an SE was filed or not. (I’m sure I’ll get a bill later if not.) I liked Tax Slayer just fine when all I had were W2s to enter, but I’d really prefer to use a program where I know whether or not the self-employment taxes are being deducted.

I have a question about tax form 3800 "General Business Credit" I have a full time job so taxes are being taken out of my check etc. But I also have my own painting business. I have a contract with a local apartment complex. They told me at the end of the year they would send me tax form 1099 Misc.

Anyway I will make over 5k and I was wondering if I would be able to use tax for 3800 for anything. I was looking over the form and in Part II section 9 it tells me for individuals to enter the amount from form 1040 line 39. My question is am I able to deduct the standard deduction which is "single" "head of household" ect. depending on which one I qualify for on the 3800 tax form also?

If I am thinking correctly that would be a double deduction, once from form 1040 and then from form 3800. Can anyone help me with this or am I really missing something.

Thanks

I bought a computer in 2007 that I use exclusively for my job. When I did my taxes for that year I took the standard deduction — i didn’t have enough deductions to itemize.

When I file my taxes this year I am going to itemize… can I still claim the cost of the computer as a business expense this year? I still have the receipt.

Can we then claim standard deduction on our personal taxes?