itemized deductions

Cracked,

I am in Raleigh, NC. I usually work until around 2-3 in the morning. Sometimes though I take a nap during the day.

That is a good deduction. Thee are millions of people Im sure who do similar things. I remember my tax prof saying that when they started requiring SS # for children deduction that a few million kids disappeared that year.
 
Ok, sorry i'm not up as late as you guys. My comments are back a few pages. I have no family. I'm just talking about deductions for myself. If I ask a trader on this board to meet me at the "it's a small world" ride to discuss scalping, and it's just me, then the airfare, hotel, rental car, and admission is all deductable. If I bought cotton candy though, that's only a writeoff if we both shared. If I brought my girlfriend along, her expenses aren't deductable though, but my portion of it are. That's how I understand things still.
 
Let me pose a dumb question.

Suppose, I make 10k in a year.
I should owe about 3k in taxes.
Then I have a valid trading business trip which costs 3k.

Does that cancel out 1 to 1 with the taxes I owed
and then I don't have to pay anything?

Also, how do you guys report your computer equipment?
Do you divide it up to 4 years or report it all at once?
What book do you guys recommend that have good
examples for trader taxes regarding reporting expenses?

Thanks!
 
For computer equipment, there is some magic number and under that number you can deduct the whole enchillada. It's enough for you to buy 2 new pc's some 21" lcd monitors and a plasma tv and have some left over for a nice desk each year.
 
Originally posted by Sanjuro
Let me pose a dumb question.

Suppose, I make 10k in a year.
I should owe about 3k in taxes.
Then I have a valid trading business trip which costs 3k.

1. Does that cancel out 1 to 1 with the taxes I owed
and then I don't have to pay anything?

2. Also, how do you guys report your computer equipment?
Do you divide it up to 4 years or report it all at once?
What book do you guys recommend that have good
examples for trader taxes regarding reporting expenses?


1. No, would go against your income. But you should also explore the hobby loss rules. I won't waste my breath why.


2. Look under section 179 for assets placed in service the in the first year of a new business. Otherwise you have to look up each asset under the MACRS Table. A desk depreciates different than a Computer.

Thanks!
More...
 
Originally posted by trdrmac
A business owner I know called me to discuss setting up a small 401K plan for her business. The company wanted $2500 to administer the plan. Now for her business this would mean she would have to make at least 20% just to cover fees.
Seems a little expensive at first blush.
More...

$2,500 for 401(k) admin & prep is dirt cheap especially if that includes preparation of the 5500's.

If $2500 was too much a 401(k) was the wrong plan. She should have been looking at SEP plans instead.
 
Originally posted by taxman


$2,500 for 401(k) admin & prep is dirt cheap especially if that includes preparation of the 5500's.

If $2500 was too much a 401(k) was the wrong plan. She should have been looking at SEP plans instead.
More...

For a 5 person buisness $2500 is a rip off to for a 401K plan.

Both her and her partner already have seps set up.
 
For a five person business there really doesn't seem to be any reason to pay 2500.00 for a 401 K plan. I suppose in some cases you might want to do this but I cant think of any at the moment - other than to transfer fees to your buddy who is administering the plan or to possibly minimize taxes.

The wonderful SEP program is simple to administer - you could literally set one up in about an hour for five people. This is one case where the acronymm really works: "Simple" it is - and very low cost.
 
Cal,

I could not agree more. Even with hypothetical funding of 100K, that would be a 2.5% vig just to overcome. Plus there was no real supermarket of funds to choose from, which means you can add another 1-2% in 12b-1 and management fees.

But I suppose the people who sell them will give you 10 reasons why the fees are worth it.
 
Originally posted by candletrader


You can read it for free :) here:
http://www.stock-market-seminars.com/downloads/reminiscences-of-jesse-livermore.pdf

Its the full book, online as a 238 page pdf file, but personally I don't think its worth the price of the electricity used to read one chapter of it online...
More...


I have not looked into my electricity bill. (I could have someone put a meter on the line between the power source and my computer)

Let's say that I take 10% of my utility bills for the business(Home office) My computer is online ten hours per day. For example, is it possible that my computer is costing me 80% of my electricity bill?

Jeffrey
 
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