My work truck, a one-ton 1998 Chevy Cheyenne with a plumber’s truck body gets the gas mileage of an M-1 tank: 30 gallon tank, only 200 miles to the tank full! Since gas is heading north of $3.00, and maybe $4.00, I purchased a motorcycle. Since I depreciate my work truck/mileage, can I also do the motorcycle? I’m planning to drive the roving toolshop to the job site (usually a full house rehab) and then use the bike to get back and forth from home.
Since I doubt the IRS will believe that I won’t be riding the bike for fun too, what’s the best way to use this right off, if at all.
Any thoughts, ideas welcome. If I’m leaving out information, please ask…
Thanks!
Replies
There was a thread not too long ago that discussed this. Search back in the business folder. I think that's where it is.
In my case I have a qualified office at the house and none of my milage is classified commuting. Since I plan to keep my work van forever I chose milage over actual costs and depreciation. You need to do the math over the long term and see if you make out better when the depreciation runs out.
I also use my wife's car to run my business errands when I don't need to drive the gas sucker. I take all that milage, too, and at almost 30mpg it's a good deal.
If you qualify, charge the milage on the bike to the business.
Hey Cooper, always check with the accountant but my recollection is you have two options for milage write offs.
Write off the cost of the vehicle, upkeep, insurance, gas, etc., etc, etc, less personal use (you have to keep a written log of personal use).
Write off a standard milage deduction for business use (you have to keep a written log of business use).
For an MC, choice two looks more practical.
"Let's get crack-a-lackin" --- Adam Carolla
I talked to my old accountant about buying a bike last year ....
I had plans for a Harley ... can get a deal on custom paint ... and joking asked if I scratch the tank logo and put "Buck Construction" instead ... if I could write it off.
He said he'd check into it ... but I could probably write it off as advertising.
I have a new accountant ... and if the current "fill-in" job makes the cash I think it will ... or ... if I get a sig and a check tomorrow morn for the additional work at the current job ... I'll make a call to a friend ... who's got a friend ... that's gonna be selling.
So ... I'll be checking with the new accountant what he thinks.
The bile I may have a shot at is a ful dresser ... so plenty more room for signage ... and I'll probably actually outfit the bags to haul my small trim kit.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I have ridden bikes for a long time. My current ride is a '96 Honda ST1100 V4 sport-tourer. The London bike cops have used this machine for a long time as their police standard. It is called the PanEuro in Europe, and its current incarnation is the ST1300.
I would not ride it the one mile to the mini-mart without fully suiting up for protection, and here is what I have and recommend:
View Image
The Aerostitch Roadcrafter one-piece suit by Riderwearhouse. With gloves, boots (mine are by Alpinestar) and a full cover helmet, I can ride through an all-day rain and stay dry. With their electric vest on underneath, and heated grips, you can extend the season and ride until the snow starts to stick on the roads.
Take a look at their website at http://www.riderwearhouse.com and read the testimonials of those who have experienced high-speed "get offs" wearing this suit for protection.
With good body gear like this, you can ride to work every day, and never need to check the weather.
Gene,I have a 2 piece Roadcrafter ('85 V65 Sabre) and it's great in the wet other than the crotch area. How do you handle keeping that area dry (notice to all comedians, the water comes from outside the suit...)
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
I got some tent seam sealer from a camping supply store, and liberally slathered it on all the seams down there. Seems to work.
You can deduct the purchase price of the bike IF you only use it for business. Failing that you can claim all the miliage you want that you have a record for that shows it is related to business.
You can't DEDUCT the cost of any vechical, whether used 1% or 100% for business. They are depreciated. And you can depreciate vechicals that are not used 100% for business. The amount of depreciation is proportioned by the percent of business use.
Hey Bill,Doesn't it matter what the cost of the vehicle is? I mean, couldn't you 179 it if it was cheap enough?Also, your first and last trip of the day is commuting to work, unless you are already at work and are making a material run to pick up supplies.You either take an itemized deduction or mileage on a vehicle. But then there are the on going costs of running the vehicle. So I would buy an inexpensive(relatively) bike, 179 it and then do miliage on the business miles that I put on it. And it would be totally for business purposes or I wouldn't be able to 179 it. Think bulldozer.
Well technically 179 expensiving it is still depreciation, just taken at one time.However, I was thinking that 179 was not available for vechicles. But that is not correct. You can use it, but you are still limited to the special max allowances for cars.But if you take 179 then you are prohibited from using milage, you can only do actual expenses. "And it would be totally for business purposes or I wouldn't be able to 179 it." You can still 179 property that is not used 100%. It is proportioned. But I believe that it sill has to be more than 50%.One of the problems with 179 mixed use property is that in the future if the percent usage drops then you need to recapture that the excess depreciation that you claimed."Think bulldozer." ????? A bulldozer is not a vechicle.BTW, even for vechicle the depreciation limitations change for vechicle that can't be practically used for personal transportation. The plumbers truck can fall into that catagory. This only affects the limitations on the amount depreciation allowed.
You can write off the cost of the sign, but that does not affect the deductabiliy of the vechical as a business expense."ADVERTISING DISPLAY ON CAR. Putting display material that advertises your business on your car does not change the use of your car from person use to business use. if you use this car for commuting or other personal uses, you still cannot deduct your expense ofr those uses."Now advertisting might make change a vechicle to a "non-personal use vechicle" which does the ability to deduct the expesnes, but does change the limitions on depreciation calculations.
the beauty of all this is ...
I don't have to clutter up my brain with such thots ...
I'll ask my accountant and what ever he signs his name to is good by me!
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
First off, I'm not an accountant, but I do my own taxes, and have had some accounting training. Hate to disagree with several posters here, but this is my take:
As I understand it, if you deduct your truck, then the MC ride to the worksite would be commuting miles, which are not deductable. Deducting both would be double dipping.
If you don't deduct your truck, then you could deduct your MC if you claim a home office deduction.
Bottom line is the truck is deductable only because it is an integral part of your business. It carries your tools and equipment to jobsites.
The parallel thinking is that someone who is not self-employed (so called "regular" job) cannot deduct auto expenses just to get to and from work.=
Also, based on your company classification you declare on your schedule C (plumbing), listing a motorcycle as a depreciable asset may raise some IRS eyebrows.
Unless you get a sidecare to carry a tool box, and strap some pipe to your back with bungee cords, then it might be deductable.
Best advice-see an accountant.
Hope this helped. You should still ride the bike as often as possible. Got rid of mine after it sat dormant when the kid came along. Miss it in this weather.
PS: Just because something is not deductable does not necessarily mean it is a bad idea to use it. You may still come out ahead by riding the bike to the worksite, and just moving the truck when necessary. Even without deducting the bike.
We all have to remember that a $1,000 deductable expense costs us $1,000 less any tax benefits. When we deduct that expense, it only saves us 25% in income taxes (if that's your tax bracket) and about 13% SE tax, so we still pay $620 (1,000-250-130).
If an alternative only costs $500 without any tax benefit, then this is the way to go, even though the $500 isn't deductable.
I'd rather have no mortgage to pay, than pay a mortgage to get a tax deduction on the interest.
Follow me so far?
Of course, there are extreme circumstances, like when you are on the edge of a tax bracket, but for most people, it helps to understand the above.
Sorry for the long post.
Pete Duffy, Handyman
I'd rather have no mortgage to pay, than pay a mortgage to get a tax deduction on the interest.
I'd rather have a mortgage at 5.5%and take the tax deduction, and put the money I would have used to pay of the mortgage in the bank and earn 4.5%+. Not easy to do now but if you financed a home within the last few years you should have rates close to that and it's pretty easy to find no risk savings at greater than 4%. Tom
Douglasville, GA
A $100,000 mortgage at 5.5% would equal interest payments of about $455/month for the first year. The tax benefit in the 25% tax bracket would be about $114/month (so you really are out thr 455-114= 341/month x 12 = $4092 at the end of the year. This is just interest-doesn't go to principle.
Putting $455/month in the bank earning 4.5% would get you about $35 in interest the first year (of course, you'd have your principle too.) Then you pay 25% tax on that interest income, netting you less than 30 bucks for the year.
So with no mortgage, you'd be ahead $30. With a mortgage, you'd be out $4,092 in interest paid after the tax deduction. A swing of $4,122 per year. And as time goes on, it works more in your favor: you get interest on your interest when your'e saving, but as you pay down the mortgage balance, your interest payments (and therefore your tax deduction) decreases.
Just round numbers. IMHO, It's always better to earn interest and pay tax on that interest, than to pay any interest (even if it's deductable).
Unless you are getting 4.5% savings interest, but the truck loan is at 2% (yep, mine is). But it only really works if you do indeed bank the difference, instead of spending it.
Of course, it's all moot, since I can't pay off my mortgage yet (c'mon LOTTO!)Pete Duffy, Handyman
"As I understand it, if you deduct your truck, then the MC ride to the worksite would be commuting miles, which are not deductable. Deducting both would be double dipping.If you don't deduct your truck, then you could deduct your MC if you claim a home office deduction.Bottom line is the truck is deductable only because it is an integral part of your business. It carries your tools and equipment to jobsites."COMPLETELY WRONG.It is the trip that determines if it is deductable or not.Commuting is from the home to the first business stop and from the last business stop to home.It does not matter what the vechical is.And carrying tools does not make it a business trip.
Commuting is from the home to the first business stop and from the last business stop to home.
When your office is at your house, that is.
"Commuting is from the home to the first business stop and from the last business stop to home.When your office is at your house, that is."What I wrote is always true.It depends on the circumstances of the trip as to where the first business stop is.Now it is possible that the first business stop is a home office, BUT IT HAS TO BE THE PRINCIPLE PLACE OF BUSINESS.I don't have the definition of principle place of business in front of me, but I would believe that it would be a place where sigficant business work is performed.While an office where you spent maybe an hour a day checking message, paying business bill, and wirting invoices could qualify for deduction as a home office, it would not be your principle place of business.
So based on your post, the OP shouldn't be able to deduct his plumbing truck expenses going to the first job each day, and coming home from the last job each day? So those miles would be considered commuting, and any mileage between jobs and suppliers would be business miles, and he could deduct truck expenses proportional business miles/total miles?
Or did I miss something? Like I said, I'm not an accountant. It just doesn't seem reasonable not to be able to deduct expenses like that when you are self employed with a home office and a job site that can vary daily.Pete Duffy, Handyman
It is not the first/last job that is critical. It is the first BUSINESS STOP. That can be at a supply house, making a bid, etc. If you have a supply house where you need to check on availability, what new products that they are getting, etc then that can be your first business stop.And an office in home can be the first busienss stop IF IT IS THE PRINCIPLE PLACE OF BUSINESS.http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdfCar and travel expenses."HAULING TOOLS OR INSTRUMENTS. Hauling tools or instruments in your car while commuting to and from work does not make your car expenses deductible. However, you can deduct any addtional costs you hve for hauling tools or instrucments (such as for renting a trailer you tow iwth your car)."Not related, but I would through this in. "UNION MEMBERS'S TRIPS FROM A UNION HALL. If you get your work assignements at a union hall and then go to your place of work, the cost of getting from the union hall to your place of work arre nondeductile commuting expenses. Althoguh you need the union to get your work assignments, you are employed where you work, not where the union hall is located.""It just doesn't seem reasonable ...."NO ONE has ever accuessed the the IRS codes of being reasonable.
30 gallon tank, only 200 miles to the tank full!
Coop, do the math thats less than 7mpg! My GM Step van gets almost 10. The bile's a great idea but I'd also check out whats up with the truck. I'm guessing even with a loaded service body you should get at least 11-12.
Mike
Any ideas why my gas mileage is so horrendous? It's a dually, so I thought that had something to do with it. I love having everytool available---but I'm thinking of trading it in and getting a van with shelves instead. (I have a beatup demo pickup for materials, but am hesitant to buy a van since my girlfriend thinks that vans are "rape mobiles".) Anyway to increase gas mileage?
my 36ft diesel RV gets 10-11mpg run'n 80... yet my lexus lx450 gets only 12.5 even if i run 40mph...
my fake roadking (was an ultra tour glide) gets maybe 20-25 but prob closer to the 20... stop every 150miles all the way to keywest... but worth it... I smile just think'n about my bikes.... that has some value...no?
I'd say yes you can sponsor/advertise on your bike... but it's all money out of your pocket... people see the bike... enter it into a few shows... leave biz cards on the seat when it parked... it'd pass the test...
i posted a couple weeks ago... the F350 sits alot and i got a wuss rainbow flag look'n granola eat'n subaru forester... not a bad car/wagon/suv but man it just ain't me... but i'm get'n 25-27 mpg
just about time to pull out my old 1981 Datsun king cab diesel ( only new car/truck I've ever had) seems like i was get'n about 40-45mpg highway...
p