drinc2much[at]yahoo.com (drinc2much) wrote:

- quote -

You cannot deduct for a home office unless it was used
exclusively for work, and not for personal. Technically if
you so much as wrote a personal letter in the office, it is
not deductable.

You can in theory deduct for the computer and furniture, but
you would have to being depreciating it and determine the
percentage of biz use. If it is mostly old furniture and
computer equipment the increase tax prep fees might now
justify the deduction value.

I am sure there are several in this newsgroup who will
disagree with my opinion. I base it in part on my stints at
free lancing. I rarely used the equipment enough for the
biz (as compared to the percentage for personal use) to
justify my time spent tracking it.

- quote -

Start with Schedule C and move on the the depreciation
forms.

bex

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drinc2much[at]yahoo.com (drinc2much) wrote:

- quote -

You need to also file Schedule C and SE (self employment
taxes) to attach to your 1040 form. Assuming you have no
employees other than yourself, you DO NOT need an EIN or
business name.

To find out what it means to be in business for yourself,
read IRS Pub 334, 535, and 543 for starters. You also should
read Pub 587 if you think that you will have a qualifying
office-in-home deduction.

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I am looking for tax information for the current year (2004)
and last year (2003).

I have a regular full time job. In addition to this, I do
some side/freelance work. In 2003, I only made a few hundred
dollars or so from freelance, but in 2004, I expect to make
in the 10-15k range.

Is there anything I need to do to help with tax writeoff? Is
there anything I can deduct for my 2003 return? Can I write
off things like computers/home office furniture? All of the
work was done out of my home, except for the visiting of
customers sites.

What forms do I use to file this income?
What forms would I need to fill out to deduct anything? I am
just now getting a business name(fictitious name), do I need
that at all?

I have always done my taxes in the past, as it has been
pretty simple. Is it still simple now?

Thanks,

Chris

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