Tax tips for affiliate businesses

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jeremylorino said:
anything you spend related to your business and is common to your industry or field is expensable.
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Ummm, comments like this are exactly why I said you should hire a better accountant instead of seeking advice from an affiliate marketing forum.

A website is an intangible asset which means it is not an expense. While I am not exactly sure about the accounting polices concerning websites I would assume it would be checked each year for impairment and a loss could then be recorded if the value of the site decreased.
 


I don't think you can claim buying a website as a business expense either since there are generally no tangible assets that come with it.

Even if you can, the cost still has to be depreciated over a certain number of years since it has utility that lasts more than one year.

However the costs related to creating / putting up a website and mantaining it could generally be classified under advertising expenses though, at least for traditional bussinesses.

Note: Not a CPA either. Just had a few accounting classes in college. You're best off talking to one.


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pharmhand said:
Incorporating in one state and actually being based in another will not reduce your tax liability.
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Like most things tax-related, it depends on the situation.

For a theoretical example, if I lived in Alaska (or any other non-income tax state) and operate an LLC incorporated in NV then my administrative overhead would be limited to foreign registering (one time filing of $350). I would not pay any state taxes on my business income (e.g. income-free) and my pass-through taxation would only flow through my federal return.

Bonus: In this example- because I lived in Alaska I'd make that sweet 3-5k bank/yr. just for living there. Why else do you think Sarah Palin had a bazillion kids?
 
You could take your car, put a banner to a website of yours and write off the gas/insurance as a business expense for advertising.

Outside the box, people ;)
 
Oh yeah, one more thing. Get on amazon and pick up "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law." Good info in the *very* long run.
 
light.House said:
You could take your car, put a banner to a website of yours and write off the gas/insurance as a business expense for advertising.

Outside the box, people ;)
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Drive around with this banner:

"I make 254k per year from home. MakeMoniesOnline.com"

And then put an email on it or something and see how many people give it a spin
 
coolguy20 said:
Anyone know if you really can expense the costs of buying a website (like if you buy one for $10k?).
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Depends on your accountant. There's no actual Tax case law from what I hear. So there's a conservative train of thought that says it's an asset to be depreciated like real estate. Then other cpa's will say just write it off as an expense. I think it would depend on the site.
 
Aren't most web sites (not applications) just advertisements? Most affiliate marketing is kind of like advertising advertisements IMO. If you had only organic traffic going to your simple landing page, your page would be nothing more than an advertisement for an offer. I don't see how sending ppc traffic to the lander makes it any less of an advertisement.
 
I think you would have a hard time expensing or writing off the entire $10k purchase amount for a given web site. Just to be on the safe side, you should amortize it.

Re: SEP IRA, it is a good plan but solo 401k is gaining more popularity because it (potentially) allows you to sock away more money via salary deferral, above and beyond the normal 401k contribution amount.

You still have time to sock away money if you did not form your biz entity.

For the sake of expediency, form an LLC in your state which should take 1-2 days.

You actually have until April 1, 2009 to "officially" contribute to your 2008 SEP-IRA/Solo 401k plan(s).
 
Hey I was wondering - if you're on a cash accounting basis and have received a check in the mail but don't actually DEPOSIT it until after the first, do you record that as revenue for 08 or 09? I'm guessing it's 08 because it would show up on your W2 but wanted to check.

Thanks!
 
let me google that for you:

Last day to open/contribute to an SEP - April 15th

personal.fidelity.com/products/retirement/getstart/newacc/sepira.shtml.cvsr
 
Has anyone here ever been audited as an affiliate marketer? Many of us are in the BIG RED FLAG group (self employed and make good cash).

I own a ton of domains and websites and amortize them. I'd LOVE to expense them but the IRS wouldn't give me a straight answer. Fuckers. I felt it best to be somewhat conservative.
 
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