taxes...

[David]

Sounds like two separate tax issues: deductions vs business expenses. If your son is paid with a W-2 then it doesn’t sound like a business expense he can deduct.

We claim the standard deduction but also deduct my wife’s business expenses since she has her own business. I’ve tried accountants and a few tax programs but always go back to turbo tax since it’s the only one the works repeatedly.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Same as musical instruments unfortunately

(You've heard it before but)
Musicians are people who buy $5,000 worth of equipment, drive 500 miles, to get $50 in pay.

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by john70t

(You've heard it before but)
Musicians are people who buy $5,000 worth of equipment, drive 500 miles, to get $50 in pay.

Yes but in 2025 it's "pack $30,000 of equipment into a $3000 car, drive 300 miles and make $30."

[Noah930]

I have an uncle who's retired. He has lots of equity investments and rental properties. He ran TT and hired a CPA (same year) once, and found TT to be pretty accurate. So I stopped using a CPA, and I've been back to using TT for the past few years. If you have W2 income and few investments, it seems like an easy way to go.

[Crowbob]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Yes but in 2025 it's "pack $30,000 of equipment into a $3000 car, drive 300 miles and make $30."

In high school, I gigged in a wedding band, I think. As a drummer.

All the band’s crap was loaded into my ‘60’s Ford Econoline van that had old license plates riveted together for the passenger side floor. There were only front seats. I could see the pavement through a crack next to the housing for the engine that was between the front seats. The heater barely worked. Exhaust manifold was cracked. 3-hour one way drive up to Anchor Bay and back, in winter.

Broke even.

I even bragged about it to the chicks at school, too. I also made ‘em beg me to play ‘Wipe Out!’ on the cafeteria lunch table.