A Few Small Questions

[Josiegirl]

I hope you can help me, I have just a few questions I need to clarify the answers to.
1) Phone-I know you can claim the first phone but what exactly does that mean? I have a landline and a cell phone, both are used pretty equally for dc. Landline has been here a long time and costs more than my cell phone. Does it matter which I claim?
2) Mileage- can I claim mileage for trips to the bank and every trip that includes anything dc related, ex. dumping rubbish, weekly groceries, shopping, trips to the library picking up books for the kids?
3) Cost of checks? Or purchasing Amazon Prime(used probably 75% of the time for dc materials, etc.). Can I use the T/S formula for those?
4) I've included items in 2 different categories, titled Daycare Materials and Daycare Activities, but many items overlap. Does it really matter which list they're under?

Thanks so much!!

[TomCopeland]

deductions

I hope you can help me, I have just a few questions I need to clarify the answers to.
1) Phone-I know you can claim the first phone but what exactly does that mean? I have a landline and a cell phone, both are used pretty equally for dc. Landline has been here a long time and costs more than my cell phone. Does it matter which I claim?
2) Mileage- can I claim mileage for trips to the bank and every trip that includes anything dc related, ex. dumping rubbish, weekly groceries, shopping, trips to the library picking up books for the kids?
3) Cost of checks? Or purchasing Amazon Prime(used probably 75% of the time for dc materials, etc.). Can I use the T/S formula for those?
4) I've included items in 2 different categories, titled Daycare Materials and Daycare Activities, but many items overlap. Does it really matter which list they're under?

Thanks so much!!

You can pick any phone line to be your first phone line, which you cannot deduct. Choose the cheapest one.
You can claim any trip in your car if the "primary purpose" of the trip is business. That means that more than half of the reason for the trip must be because of your business.
You can deduct the time-space % of checks and Amazon Prime assuming you are using these for your business.
It doesn't matter what expense category you put your deductions in.

[Josiegirl]

Thanks!!

[lovemykidstoo]

You can pick any phone line to be your first phone line, which you cannot deduct. Choose the cheapest one.
You can claim any trip in your car if the "primary purpose" of the trip is business. That means that more than half of the reason for the trip must be because of your business.
You can deduct the time-space % of checks and Amazon Prime assuming you are using these for your business.
It doesn't matter what expense category you put your deductions in.

When I'm getting groceries, the daycare kids eat the same food I buy for our family, is that considered deductible? I don't do grocery trips specifically for daycare.

[lovemykidstoo]

When I'm getting groceries, the daycare kids eat the same food I buy for our family, is that considered deductible? I don't do grocery trips specifically for daycare.

I mean is the gas mileage deductible, not the actual groceries..

[TomCopeland]

mileage

I mean is the gas mileage deductible, not the actual groceries..

You can count miles for trips that are "primarily" for business. So, if you buy more than 50% of the food for your business, you can count the trip. Otherwise, no.