removeps-groups[at]yahoo.com wrote:
- quote -

Perhaps the benefit of being conservative might be to avoid raising the
eyebrows of anyone at the IRS who might be skeptical of the _business
purpose_ of this apparently one-shot enterprise, when the outcome was a
loss that's being taken against ordinary income.

If you have an ongoing business that has a clear intent to generate a
profit (preferably producing income in at least 2 out of 5 years),
that's another matter -- but I suspect you wouldn't be asking this
question of that were the case.

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On Mar 8, 7:32 am, an_ordinary_guy_...[at]hotmail.com (Bill) wrote:

- quote -

Why be so conservative? If the conference was 4 days at 8 hours a
day, and you were in Vegas 4 days, they why can't you deduct the
entire airfare and all your meals (provided none of them were
extravagant)?

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felmuhur[at]yahoo.com (Cool*Dude) posted:

- quote -

Short answer is "Yes."

You are obligated to report any income -- including that from
self-employment -- whether you received a 1099 or not. Now, going to a
convention in Vegas has some ancillary benefits (not overlooked, I'm
sure, by the marketing company who beguiled you into their program).
So, I would not attempt to expense the entire trip and report a loss,
since your actual income was only $138. You won't owe SE taxes anyway,
since your net is well under the $400+ number ... but it appears you
might actually qualify for the Earned Income Credit, and any
self-employment income will feed into that calculation. (Of course, you
may have extensive investment income which would disqualify you from
EIC, or age also might do so.)

I would suggest you consider filing a Schedule C-EZ, deduct an arbitrary
$100 of the "convention travel cost" (figuring 87% of that trip was for
fun) ... and you'll wind up with an insignificant -- but reasonably
reported -- net income of $38.

Bill

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

I made $11000 last year as an employee for a gas company as a clerk. I
also made $138 in self employment as an independent distributer for a
marketing co. They had a convention in Vegas that I went to and spent
about $800 between flight and hotel expenses. Can I deduct these
expenses. I did not get a 1099 because my income was less that $600.
Can I file without the the 1099 form. Thanks guys.

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >