🚀 go-pugleaf

That's excellent advice, Roger, except for the home-office deduction. If
you *really* have a home office, I would say go ahead with it. The IRS may
still flag you but if it's a legitimate deduction then you $ave some
precious dollars.

~brian

Roger Rouse <rrouse@execpc.com> wrote in article
<6b8imo$pso@newsops.execpc.com>...
> Make sure you retain a good accountant.  Mine charges as much per hour
> as I do, but he's damn good and hey, it's tax deductible...  =)
> 
> The same accountant should be able to give you simple instructions on
> doing your own payroll if you are the only employee of the
> corporation.  I do my own payroll, but leave the reports up to my
> accountant.
> 
> If you have several  employees you can retain a bookkeeper who should
> do payroll for a very minimal charge.  My other business retains
> someone like this who charges less than $50 a month to do payroll for
> 6 employees.
> 
> The IRS allows small businesses to EXPENSE up to $17,500 per year
> (this may have nudged up a bit) of otherwise depreciable assets.  If
> you buy computers and such, you'll need to decide whether you want the
> writeoff up front or spread out over time.
> 
> Any REASONABLE and ORDINARY expense is generally deductable.  Buying a
> round of golf for a client is perfectly acceptable, but not if it
> happens 5 days a week...  =)  Software, books, training (if it is
> relevant) should all be deductible.
> 
> Travel expenses can be a little tricky.  If you maintain a seperate
> office, your commute to the office is not deductible, but a trip from
> the office to the client is.  If you go directly from home to the
> client it is probably not deductible.
> 
> I would stay away from home office deductions at all costs...this is
> as good as begging for an audit.  Other than that, document everything
> and keep good records.  Get a seperate credit card in the company name
> for company purchases.  Try not to comingle your personal funds with
> corporate funds.
> 
> Incorporating is wise, because when the IRS audits your clients a
> vendor with an Inc. after it's name raises less eyebrows than some
> dude's name.  You don't want your client to end up paying payroll
> taxes on top of your fees...it tends to shorten your career.
> 
> Also, have a written contract that clearly identifies the relationship
> as being contractor like.  You don't want your client to have any more
> control over you than you can help.  I always insist on a "work from
> my office" policy when there is no good reason why I need to be at the
> client site, I supply my own computer hardware in exchange for a
> higher rate, I violate my client dress codes and make my hours
> different from their standard business hours--basically anything I can
> do to make it clear that they don't control me in an "employee-like"
> fashion.  Having multiple clients also strengthen's your case.
> 
> Roger Rouse
> Precision Consulting, Inc.
> 
> On Thu, 29 Jan 1998 11:55:54 -0800, Steve Leung <sleung@informix.com>
> wrote:
> 
> >Hi experienced incorporated consultants:
> >
> >Do you know if there are any resources available in the NET,
> >books, etc that advise incorporated consultants to
> >do tax and payroll, and answer questions like
> >
> >	compare payroll services from ADP and PayChex?
> >	
> >	what are the expenses one can deduct from tax?
> >
> >	when and what one can expense and depreciate? Like hardware,
> >		software, books, training etc. Any guidelines?
> >
> >	Can one expense communting cost?
> >
> >	what are IRS catching these days?
> >
> >Any pointers, tricks, tips, experience(good and bad) to share?
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >/steveleung
> 
>