I have an Escalade now and I'm planning to pick up an S65 as a birthday present to myself, and then it dawned on me that I might be able to write it off as a company car. Since I'll be keeping the Escalade as well, could I put the S65 as a business expense? It's reasonable in that if I did have clients to meet or things like that, my business would look more credible if I rolled up in the 65 than in a common SUV. I don't care about writing off the miles or anything, it'd just be cool if I could cut the cost of the car in half by writing off the payment. Is that possible?
can you write off a car as a business expense?
- Thread starter o hai guyz
- Start date
You can probably deduct milage/costs directly related to business.
Warning: This type of crap for a sole proprietor tends to raise red flags. So as long as you are legit across the board talk to your cpa about doing it.
If you don't have a cpa - well if you can get a car as a birthday present you can afford a cpa
Warning: This type of crap for a sole proprietor tends to raise red flags. So as long as you are legit across the board talk to your cpa about doing it.
If you don't have a cpa - well if you can get a car as a birthday present you can afford a cpa
Unless you own a car rental company, probably not. Mileage can be deducted. Repair work can be too if you use the car ONLY for business and don't use it for any other purpose. Other than that, there's no way you can write off an Escalade as a business expense.
sigh.
Buying an s65 while asking for tax advice on WF.
CPA will tell you that you can only deduct the percentage used for business and you need to keep accurate records in case you get audited.
But go find out for yourself, don't take my word for it.
Edit: guy above me, reading comprehension ftl
Buying an s65 while asking for tax advice on WF.
CPA will tell you that you can only deduct the percentage used for business and you need to keep accurate records in case you get audited.
But go find out for yourself, don't take my word for it.
Edit: guy above me, reading comprehension ftl
If you're a sole proprietor I wouldn't fuck with it. If you have a corp. you should be able to. If you got audited just say you drove to things like adtech, affiliate summit, etc. and you also drove to local businesses where you tried to ask them if you could manager there websites or whatever. You know all that "local marketing" stuff. This will probably work if you want to write some miles off.
If you want to try an write the entire car off, don't buy it. Lease it and it will look more like a "company car" and then write off the monthly payments. That might look more legit.
Disclaimer: Talk to your accountant because honestly I don't have a fucking clue what I'm talking about. Seriously.
If you want to try an write the entire car off, don't buy it. Lease it and it will look more like a "company car" and then write off the monthly payments. That might look more legit.
Disclaimer: Talk to your accountant because honestly I don't have a fucking clue what I'm talking about. Seriously.
- Well for starters - you can't write off a car, it's an asset.. You're going to need to depreciate it over time. The depreciation would be the expense to your business, not the purchase price.
- I have a SL550 that was purchased by my company, it's registered under the company name and everything. I claim it's strictly for business use (to meet, greet and show visiting clients around town) so it's possible.
- I have a SL550 that was purchased by my company, it's registered under the company name and everything. I claim it's strictly for business use (to meet, greet and show visiting clients around town) so it's possible.
Leases can be written off, I do it now, and their are some tax bonuses associated with it. We also have a corporate gas account with Mobil.
Contact your fucking accountant. It makes no sense you wouldn't have a CPA on retainer to ask about this, but you can afford a $1500+/mo car payment???
Contact your fucking accountant. It makes no sense you wouldn't have a CPA on retainer to ask about this, but you can afford a $1500+/mo car payment???
got a quarter tank of gas...in my new e-class..
askin for tax advive on wf...but i look fllyyyyyyyy
askin for tax advive on wf...but i look fllyyyyyyyy
You can write of a small portion of it, not half or definitely not the entire thing.
Again, ask an accountant.
Again, ask an accountant.
That's what I was wondering about, but when I buy computers/phones/etc she tells me it's fine to write them off because they're cheap enough and the cost goes to shit so fast that they're not really "assets." I always wondered about that but I've never been audited and she said it was fine so I just did it.
I did send her an email this morning, I just thought I'd ask around as well since I know some guys here that are good at finding "loopholes" when moving money around.
So with your SL, you pay cash for it, and only write off the depreciation month to month? And also do you ever use it for non-business use or do they check that pretty strictly?
She's right, I believe it's called the materiality principle. What it states is, you have to keep the cost of accounting in mind versus the benefits it provides to stakeholders.. So, for something nominal like phones or computers -- sure, it provides benefits over several accounting periods.. But, does it make sense to pay an accountant to track and spread the depreciation of something that cheap over several years? Not really.. From a tax perspective it won't make shit difference. So might as well expense the entire thing in the year purchased.
On the other hand, with a $100k+ car.. Unless you're pulling in ridiculous profits, I'd say it's material enough. When you buy it, it'll appear on your balance sheet.. Not on the income statement as an expense.
This is how it transfers to your income statement and provides tax benefits - Let's say the car is expected to benefit your business for 10 years, with a resale value of maybe $10k at the end of this timespan. So you'll be depreciating $90k ($100k-$10k salvage) over 10 years, or $9k/year. This will be an expense every year on your income statement for the next 10 years, thereby reducing taxes.
Hope that makes sense.. Anyone else, feel free to correct if this is wrong.
Well, it should be getting depreciated every year. When I first paid cash for it, the amount I paid goes on the balance sheet (ie. "Vehicle - $100k"). Every year, $9k will be depreciated from this asset (on the balance sheet), and $9k will be added to your expenses (on the income statement). Keep in mind though the government provides amortization rates for assets, your accountant will know this. But I'm just throwing out numbers so you get a general idea of how it works.
I just checked my financials for last year, and although I see a depreciation expense my accountant didn't specify whether that was for the car (I presume it is). No comment on the second question, but honestly it's really not worth it for them to dig deep into something this petty. I'm sure they're more concerned about the millions being spent on advertising.
Start a blog about that car. Write about the purchase process - why you want the car, where you went to look at it, what your family says about it, what friends say about it, what reviews say about it.
Document everything as you look for/buy the car you want and blog it.
Set up advertising for blog.
Buy car.
Document car experience after the sale.
Write off car. Your blog is for profit. You have adsense, etc on it - there's your proof. You had to buy the car or you wouldn't have any credibility as an expert on it. Your business hinges on your credibility as an owner, etc.
Document everything as you look for/buy the car you want and blog it.
Set up advertising for blog.
Buy car.
Document car experience after the sale.
Write off car. Your blog is for profit. You have adsense, etc on it - there's your proof. You had to buy the car or you wouldn't have any credibility as an expert on it. Your business hinges on your credibility as an owner, etc.