Chris Coho, Jr. <ccoho[at]jrwald.com> wrote:

- quote -

That's an ordinary salaried, W-2, type of job, right?

- quote -

You get a "Standard Deduction" of $7,000. If your itemized
deductions are more, you take them instead. If they're
less, you get the standard.

eth

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You probably don't itemize. Standard deduction for a single
person in 2003 is $4750. If you're head of household, the
standard is $7000. Point is - if the government allows you
to deduct $7000, no questions, no receipts, , why would you
trade it for $1684?

Nan, EA in LA

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Chris Coho, Jr. wrote:

- quote -

Well, IF you can write it off, rather than depreciate it
over 5 years (I KNOW, the useful life of a computer is
much less than that, although the computer I'm using
at the moment is over 9 years old), miscellaneous
itemized deductions, including employee business expense
(which category this belongs in), are first reduced by
2% of your AGI (Adjusted Gross Income), and then become
an itemized deduction. If your standard deduction
($4750 single, $9500 married) exceeds your itemized
deductions, the write-off doesn't do you any good.

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- quote -

I think they're telling you that you don't have enough
deductions to itemize, which is required for the type of
deduction you are trying to get.

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Hi guys, I'm hoping someone can help me with this because I
don't know anything about taxes. I work as a software
designer (i don't own my own business). I purchased a
laptop in march because I needed it for my job. When I
purchased it, I found this article on consumer reports web
page:

http://www.consumerreports.org/main/...=1075508581138

According to it as long as I use the laptop 50% or more for
business I can claim that usage percentage for deduction.
The laptop cost $1684 and I use it 97% for business (about 1
hour personal use a week vs about 40 hours work use a week)
and I went in to H & R Block to have my taxes done. I made
$26000 last year and they told me that I couldn't deduct the
laptop unless I have a total of $7000 of deductions to
claim. The only business expense I have is the laptop so I
have nowhere near $7000 to deduct.

Are they correct in this? It just seems strange to me that
I need to deduct more than 25% of my income to be allowed to
deduct ANY of my income. I just wanted to get a 2nd opinion
on this before I said goodbye to that $1684.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide (and let me
know if you need any more information from me).

Chris Coho
ccoho[at]jrwald.com

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