Tax write offs

So we are blogging for dollars now and we have to actually look at what we can write off don't we? I was thinking aobu thtis today as I was going through my 1099s and started to make a little list for myself. As an independant contractor for several blogging sites as well as earning ad revenue working solely on my computer there are many things that I can write off that I couldn't before.

Some odd things you may not think of, but one of them is Netflix. I have an Entertainment blog that I like to review movies on after I watch them and I do make money from that blog. So Netflix is actually a neccessary business expense for me. I bought a DVD player recently and I will be writing that off for business as well because I write reviews on every movie I watch on it. Pretty fun write offs eh?

What about your internet service? Of course if you use it for business purposes only. Essentially expenses such as these, utilities, phone, etc. you can write off, but only as a percentage of your office space. If your office consumes 25% of your dwelling than you can claim those expenses at 25%. Same for rent if you do so.

You can even take a bit of mileage off if you happen to travel for business purposes. Suppose you sell on Ebay. Driving to the post office to drop off packages, driving to the store to buy products, packing materials, etc. is all considered business mileage. You can tack on 44.5 cents per mile and add that to your deductions. If you have to travel long distances for conferences, training seminars, or to meet with clients you are going to have quite a bit of mileage to deduct.

Are you a sports writer? Did you purchase the NFL Ticket last year? Deductable. It is for reasearch on your columns. MAgazines that are based on your work are also deductible.

All in all there are many things athat you pay for during the year that you should keep track of and think of business expenses since you use them for that purpose. If you work independantley as a self-employed individual you should have an expense tracker and make sure that any time you spend money on for the purpose of business you los it. As long as you keep receipts and build your mileage logs you will be prepared for any type of audit. It is essential that you keep accurate records to not only keep your taxable income as low as possible, but to prove that you actually paid for the items.