Cell Phones

[Abigail]

I can't find the information I need to know about cell phones and the bill. We have a family share line my husband and I have each our own cell phone and last year I opened a third line for an additional ten dollars which is ONLY a daycare phone. Parents don't have our personal numbers. How does it work with taxes? Do I use a portion of the bill as 1/3 since it's 1/3 phones used for daycare or do I claim half the bill since I do use my personal phone some as well to talk to licensors or ccrr on a regular basis? Do I not have any part of the bill and just use my time/space percentage which seems to be 64% at the moment?

[TomCopeland]

Phone

I can't find the information I need to know about cell phones and the bill. We have a family share line my husband and I have each our own cell phone and last year I opened a third line for an additional ten dollars which is ONLY a daycare phone. Parents don't have our personal numbers. How does it work with taxes? Do I use a portion of the bill as 1/3 since it's 1/3 phones used for daycare or do I claim half the bill since I do use my personal phone some as well to talk to licensors or ccrr on a regular basis? Do I not have any part of the bill and just use my time/space percentage which seems to be 64% at the moment?

You have 3 phone lines. The first phone line (your husband's) is not deductible. The second phone is deductible since you use it for your business. If so, multiply the cost (one/half of original bill) by your time-space %. Then deduct $10 for the third line that you use 100% for your business.

Join me for a webinar “2012 Tax Changes: How to Avoid Mistakes on Your Tax Return” Tuesday, February 12th at 8:30-10:00pm Eastern Time. The cost is $25 (100% tax deductible!). To register: http://events.r20.constantcontact.co...&llr=yatrx4cab

[Abigail]

Why do I find the time/space % of half the bill if I only deduct the $10 the daycare phone costs each month?

Out of our three phones, just one is 100% marketed as daycare. My cell phone I use for my two employees. My husband's phone is the first line so I know it's not deductible.

[EAP]

We have a similar situation, we have 4 lines on our plan and my line is used for business (and also for my personal use) would I just apply the space/time % to my portion of the phone bill and not the other 3 lines? (One line is my husband, one is for my dad and one is for my son).

[TomCopeland]

Cell phone

Why do I find the time/space % of half the bill if I only deduct the $10 the daycare phone costs each month?

Out of our three phones, just one is 100% marketed as daycare. My cell phone I use for my two employees. My husband's phone is the first line so I know it's not deductible.

I assumed your second phone line is used for both business and personal purposes. If so, use your time-space %. If it's only used for your business, deduct 100% of the cost. The third cell phone (used 100% for your business) costs $10 (because it's the 3rd phone line), so you can deduct 100% of this cost.

[Abigail]

I assumed your second phone line is used for both business and personal purposes. If so, use your time-space %. If it's only used for your business, deduct 100% of the cost. The third cell phone (used 100% for your business) costs $10 (because it's the 3rd phone line), so you can deduct 100% of this cost.

So I use my time/space % to deduct my second cell phone which i use personal but also for employees.

Then I also deduct the $10/month from the third line which is all for daycare.

So the second line though is also only $10 since it's add a line so if my time/space % is 64% that means I deduct $6.40 and an additional $10 for the exclusive business phone totaling $16.40/month? Our overall bill is about $140 each month and I thought their was some exeption about the add-a-line situations because the phone would cost much more if we didn't have that first line.

[TomCopeland]

Cell phone

So I use my time/space % to deduct my second cell phone which i use personal but also for employees.

Then I also deduct the $10/month from the third line which is all for daycare.

So the second line though is also only $10 since it's add a line so if my time/space % is 64% that means I deduct $6.40 and an additional $10 for the exclusive business phone totaling $16.40/month? Our overall bill is about $140 each month and I thought their was some exeption about the add-a-line situations because the phone would cost much more if we didn't have that first line.

With this new information, I'll give a different answer. Take the total monthly cost and divide by 3. Take the time-space % of one phone (the second one) and 100% of the 3rd phone. If your total bill was $150, and your time-space % was 64% you get: $32 ($50 x 64% = $32) + $50 = $82.

Join me for a webinar “2012 Tax Changes: How to Avoid Mistakes on Your Tax Return” Tuesday, February 12th at 8:30-10:00pm Eastern Time. The cost is $25 (100% tax deductible!). To register: http://events.r20.constantcontact.co...&llr=yatrx4cab