There are certain things that you would think should be a no-brainer in terms of using it as a tax-related expense that can be written off, but it can be a red-flag because it’s often misused. The next tax-write off the IRS will look at?
Cell Phone Bill
Our cell phones; is there any other piece of equipment in our lives that we use more than our cell phones. We don’t think so. The IRS feels the same way, so they’re touchy about it when you say every call you’ve made was for business purposes. If you simply write off the whole bill, a flag is likely to go up in some computer somewhere.
How to do it right – this can be tough to do – because it entails keeping good records and really looking at your cell phone bill every month, circling the calls made for business (identifiable by certain numbers) and being sure to circle them. If you can do this, it can be a big deduction. Another route might be to only use a landline – or a different cell phone for your business. It’s easier to track a phone that’s only used to make business calls, but this may not be cost-efficient unless you’re on a family or discount plan of some kind, so it bears thinking about if your business is heavy on phone-time.