Compile Tax Deductions for Pampered Chef

[clshirk]

Ok, I know this started halfway through the 1099 thread, but I figured it'd be great to just have a thread dedicated to deductions we can use. So here's my list, what else should we add?

Car deductions
Mileage to the bank
Mileage to homes for shows or to deliver product, etc
Labels
Business cards
$2/m insurance taken from our checks
$5 ChefSuccess Fee
Website Fees
Food we buy for shows
Paper product we buy from PC for shows
Product we buy and show at our shows via personal orders and such

What else?

 

[fruit76loop]

SUPPLIES
§ Super Starter Kit - (your initial start up cost)
§ Super Starter Booster Kit
§ New Product Samples
§ Any products you purchase for yourself
§ Door Prizes
§ Hostess gifts
§ Envelopes, folders, pens, etc.
§ Bowls, bins or towels used for demos
§ Copies
§ Business cards
§ Stampers
§ Catalogs, order forms, etc.

TELEPHONE
§ Telephone expenses (separate line for computer, or portion of your local/long-distance charges used for your business)
§ Long-distance calls to customers, home office
§ Cell phones (based on % used for business)
§ Internet Fees

POSTAGE
§ Hostess packets, thank-yous, flyers, etc.
§ Bills related to PC
§ Newsletter mailings to customers, consultants, etc.
§ Customer Care

TRAVEL EXPENSE
§ Hotel costs
§ Monthly meetings (mileage, food expenses, etc)
§ Out-of-town shows (airfare, etc.)
§ Meals
§ Taxi's or airport transfers (just ask for a receipt!)
§ Tips for bellmen, etc.

DUES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
§ Cooking magazines, recipe clubs, etc. (online or magazines)
§ Business related dues (chamber of commerce memberships, etc.)
§ Meeting and Conference registration fees

ENTERTAINMENT EXPENSE
(Entertainment and meal expenses are deducted at 50%)
§ Recruiting interviews (buy a potential lunch, coffee, etc.)
§ Planning meetings with spouse other consultants, etc. Be sure to document your agenda (If you meet for lunch with another consultant to share ideas, etc.)
§ Entertainment expenses. An example is that if your husband golfs, you can give him some catalogs to pass out at his golf game, and he can legally deduct his golf fees!

HOME OFFICE EXPENSE
§ Office equipment such as computer equipment, fax machines, calculators, scanners, etc. Percentage based on how much time it is used for business vs. personal
§ Internet expenses - based on percentage of how much it is used for business
§ Computer Software used for your business
It is extremely beneficial to have your own "home office". A home office does NOT need to be a separate room - it can be a corner of a kitchen, bedroom, etc. To qualify as a home office the area must be used "regularly and exclusively" for your business. When you have a home office you can deduct the following:
§ A percentage of your real estate taxes, mortgage, and utility bills. (based on square footage used for business use) To determine the percentage, calculate the square footage of your home and your home office. Divide the footage of your home office by that of your home. This is the percentage you can deduct. For example, if your home is 2000 square feet and your home office is 100 square feet, you can deduct 5% of your expenses. (that's more than you can do now!)
§ Mileage to and from your shows.
§ Mileage to another job you may have, with restrictions. In order to take this deduction, you must do some type of Pampered Chef work at home before you leave for your other job. The tax law reads that you can deduct mileage "from your first job to your second job". If you are working on Pampered Chef as your first job in the morning, then you leave for your other job the mileage is deductible. This could be as simple as sending out a few emails or entering orders on your computer.
§ All computer-related expenses, considering that your computer is only used for your business. This includes Internet connection fees.

MILEAGE AND TOLLS
§ To cluster meetings, conferences, grocery store, post office, bank, etc. For shows, check with your accountant: this may be deducted if you stop on the way for food or if you have a home office). See note under Home Office Expenses
§ Current rate is .505 per mile!!!

ADVERTISING AND VENDOR FAIRS
§ Logo clothing, hats, pins, etc.
§ Newspaper ads, church bulletins or newsletter ads
§ Free gifts to vendor fairs, etc.
§ Vendor Fair booth fees
§ PC LOGO apparel. (deduct this as advertising, not work clothes!) all of these are considered advertising.)

GROCERIES
§ Any food you use to practice Pampered Chef recipes (you can deduct the same recipe multiple times)
§ Any food you take to shows, meetings, etc.

INTEREST AND FEES
§ Tax Preparation Fees (business portion on Schedule C at 100%, personal portion on Schedule A - Itemized deductions)
§ Bank fees
§ Credit card interest that relates to any business expenses

PAYROLL EXPENSES
§ This is an incredible way to reduce your taxes! If you have children between the ages of 6 and 18 you can pay them for helping you with your business. There is some work involved, but the benefits are great. You will need to get a Federal ID number (your tax advisor can help you with that). Then you should pay your children a normal salary for age-appropriate work (i.,e., a 6-year old could be paid $5 for stamping catalogs for ½ hour but not $50 for an hour of host coaching calls!)
§ You can pay each child up to $4,750 per year. It is TAX FREE to the child, and FULLY DEDUCTIBLE for you, You should write a paycheck to your child and document the time spent and tasks completed

RETIREMENT CONTRIBUTIONS
§ As the owner of your own business you can set up special retirement plans for yourself. There are SEP's (Self-Employed 401K's), Simple IRA's, etc. Contact your financial or tax advisor for details. This is a great way to save money for your retirement TAX FREE!

 

[Christ Follower]

WOW! Reading that list makes me want to kick myself for not keeping track of more of my expenses! I will have to do better this year.

 

[laylaleigh]

For those of you that add orders to a host's order, how to you write that off? The receipt is in her name.

 

[PamperedChefDebi]

For those of you that add orders to a host's order, how to you write that off? The receipt is in her name.

It should show up as a Consultant Gift in P3 and that serves as your receipt for tax purposes.

 

[DebbieSAChef]

Thank youMarlene,

You are wonderful! Thank you for all that tax deducting information. I better get to work on mine today. The hubby is asking for it by Saturday. I am such a procrastinator! How would we show proof of Chef success $5?

Paypal? Plus other things we have paid for here on Chef success for supplies, products, etc...

Debbie

 

[bearydutch]

Thanks for the great list. I'm usually pretty good but this is awesome and will be great resource to use for the future.

 

[laylaleigh]

It should show up as a Consultant Gift in P3 and that serves as your receipt for tax purposes.

I have a couple items that I purchased when I first got started and some of my friends didn't use all of their 1/2 off items. So, I paid for it by credit card, but the receipt is still in their name.

I know that a lot of people out there order off of the host's discount. Just wondering how you write that off.

thanks!

 

[clshirk]

OMG thanks for adding that huge list.
Question, can we use kit enhancement purchases that we used PC Dollars to pay for in our deductions? I ask b/c I am thinking we have to claim the PC Dollars as income anyhow, so technically, I'm using my income to pay for more product, right?

 

[Jules711]

Yes, I would think you'd be able to use it. After all, if I have a gift card for Office Depot, I'm sure going to deduct everything! Money is money! Thanks for the great list. Now if only everything was already entered. Goal for this year, catch up and STAY caught up with entering info!!

 

[fruit76loop]

For those of you that add orders to a host's order, how to you write that off? The receipt is in her name.

Layla,

If you were audited by the PC you wouldn't be able to write these off. Because consultant gift can only be used up to $25 per transaction. So I recommend doing your own orders just so you have a receipt in your name! :thumbup:

 

[chefheidi2003]

Thank you so much for the great list...I printed it and took it to my cluster meeting on monday and everyone there was very thankful for it as well.

 

[lterman]

Does anyone remember how much the super startup kit was? I dont have a receipt for that. Do I need one?

 

[lterman]

Nevermind, I found it!

lyzette

 

[clshirk]

Just in case anyone else was wondering- the start up kit is $155 this past year.

 

[zookeeper614]

Thank you so much for the great list!!! I thought that I was keeping up with everything this year, but you showed things that I didn't even think of. Tax year 2008 will have a whole lot more deductions!!! Thanks again!!

 

[Crystal Patton]

I'm bumping this because it is full of great info.

 

[mkcook]

I'm bumping this because it is full of great info.

Can we put a sticky on this? I do taxes every day and have not had such a detailed and complied list as this. It's great! :thumbup: Thanks for sharing!

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

You can deduct mileage even if you don't have a home office ... I THINK internet, computer purchase and phone fees, based on the percent you use them for your business.

Don't forget food for shows and meals out that are PC related.

ANYTHING at National Conference.

Your Personal Web Site fees.

NEVER would have thought about the $2 a month they deduct!

Don't forget the MILES to all those places you drive ... delivery of products, meetings with hosts, post office, office max, etc. My accountant says the whole mileage counts ... for instance, if I stop by a host's house on the way to work, my drive to work has just become tax deductible because my business is out of my house.

 

[iddlebiddle]

Ok, don't want to hi-jack this, but I CANNOT find where I need to go in and changes my categories for my income/expenses. After doing my taxes, I wanted to change the some of them.

Anyone remember how to get in there, I have been all over pp plus to try and figure it out, the sad thing is I have done it before.

 

[Mel92504]

Ok, don't want to hi-jack this, but I CANNOT find where I need to go in and changes my categories for my income/expenses. After doing my taxes, I wanted to change the some of them.

Anyone remember how to get in there, I have been all over pp plus to try and figure it out, the sad thing is I have done it before.

I think (I'm not in front of my home computer right now) that if you click the add expense/income icon on the top line of P3 as, if you were entering a new one, there is a place in the pop-up box to change the catagories in the middle.

HTH!

 

[iddlebiddle]

That is it, thanks so much.

 

[candiejayne]

I thought we couldn't deduct the $2 a month because they pull it out for us, and it's not included in our income, therefore its already taken out.

After reading this, I'm also kicking myself for not deducting my PWS and I never thought to do my mileage to the bank for deposits. grrrr.

 

[jenniwest04]

Ack...I did forget to deduct my kit (although I only paid for half) and my PWS...however, my accountant clarified the cell phone usage...if your cell is your ONLY phone (no land line) then only long distance call costs can be deducted. Now I don't have to worry about long distance on my cell (and don't know anyone who does) so I couldn't do anything about that. But do not forget to include your utility costs in terms of heating!! That's a separate bill for me and most people in my area and I hadn't thought of that, but since I have a home office, a % of my gas bill can be deducted.

 

[PamperedSD]

I know this is an old post for 2008 taxes but I'm trying to make sure I have them in order as I go. So - does anyone know how I write off my cell phone when I have a family plan? We have 2 phones, my DH has an iphone - I'm guessing I minus the iphone portion and then whats left divide in half and thats my phone and then divide that by the % I use it for business? If anyone has any thoughts - please share! THANKS

 

[rebajoe]

Thank you Marlene for your info on tax deductions!!!

My Q is WHY doesn't Home Office post any of what's tax deductable on Consultants Corner? It sure would be alot easier to have access to this information at CC. I had to find this info at here.
After all this is a very important aspect of our business and a great recruiting tool, too.
Rebajoe

 

[niktim3]

Does anyone know how to find out how much we spent on Vistaprint?
I can see all my orders in my portfolio, but it doesn't state the amount spent. Any ideas?
Thanks!