[CAUT] PTG Dues

[Porritt, David]

This thread on taxes kind of amuses me.  We get our chuckles from time
to time when lay people make comments about pianos that show a lack of
understanding of the instrument.  I'm sure any tax accountants who might
read this would get a similar chuckle out of our comments.

The last couple of tax law changes have been referred to as the "Tax
Accountant's Relief Acts" since they make the tax laws so complex that
it takes a tax specialist to comprehend them.  I send all my tax work to
a CPA who only does taxes.  That's his area of expertise.  Just as I
can't recommend that he learn to tune his own piano and purchase the
requisite tools to tune his piano each year, he doesn't recommend that I
learn the tax code and buy the necessary software to file my own tax
return once a year.  I can tune his piano better than he can, and he can
do my taxes MUCH better than I can.

dp

David M. Porritt, RPT
dporritt at smu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Carl Root
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 6:32 AM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: [CAUT] PTG Dues

I assume that most salaried technicians do some outside work.  The  
IRS wants you to declare that income which would necessitate your  
filing a schedule C.  As long as you're making an attempt to run this  
side business profitably, that is, not claiming expenses in excess of  
income year after year, then I don't see the problem.

Carl D. Root, RPT
www.rhythmimages.com



On Jan 8, 2008, at 12:05 AM, Israel Stein wrote:

> At 11:00 AM 1/7/2008, caut-request at ptg.org wrote:
>> IF your only source of income is working for someone else, and you  
>> are required by your employer to belong to a trade organization,  
>> and/or your employer requires you to purchase your own tools to do  
>> your work, then they are deductible.
>> Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT
>> Piano Tuner/Technician
>> Honolulu, HI
>> Author of
>> The Business of Piano Tuning
>> available from Potter Press
>> www.pianotuning.com
>
>
> Folks,
>
> If anyone here believes the above as written and follows this  
> advice - they  might be unpleasantly surprised.
>
> What we are dealing with here are Employee Business Expenses -  
> which are subject to a 2% limitation. Which means that this would  
> be deductible only if your expenses of this sort total more than 2%  
> of your Adjusted Gross Income and you can only deduct the portion  
> that is in excess of your Adjusted Gross Income. Which means:
>
> If your pre-tax salary is $55,000 for the year, and you have  
> adjustments to income (such as certain moving expenses, eligible  
> IRA contributions, alimony payments or other such deductions) of  
> $5000 so your Adjusted Gross Income is $50,000, then you can't  
> deduct anything less than 2% of 50,000 - which is $1,000. And you  
> can only deduct amounts in excess of $1,000 - that is, if you spent  
> a total of $1,112  on dues and tools, you can only deduct $112.
>
> And if you don't believe me, look at your IRS Schedule A to Form  
> 1040 - and read the instructions.
>
> I wish people who write stuff would research it before they write.
>
> Israel Stein
>
>