Ok, so for you 1099 contract guys..

BellyUpFish

BellyUpFish

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What, within reason, are you deducting at tax time?

I've never really done much contract flying, pretty much all W2 so I'm just doing a little research..

Anyone?
 
Any reasonable or customary expenses (that would include chart or foreflight subscriptions), any maintenance that you've personally page, travel expenses/meals (there's a whole IRS publication on travel and entertainment deductions), any training you need to maintain your skills (IPCs, insurance mandated courses, checkouts, etc..) that you pay for. You can argue that things like your aviation magazine subscriptions and perhaps even membership in things like NAFI would also be reasonable.

Any clothing (uniform shirts, epaulettes with fewer than 5 stripes, etc...) that you can't use for anything else are deductible as well.
 
This is in my interest as well. As a contract employee in the past I've never been able to exceed the standard and therefore I dont itemize. I feel like I spend more money looking for deductions and that's doesnt seem productive to me. This year may be different though.
 
flyingron said:
Any reasonable or customary expenses (that would include chart or foreflight subscriptions), any maintenance that you've personally page, travel expenses/meals (there's a whole IRS publication on travel and entertainment deductions), any training you need to maintain your skills (IPCs, insurance mandated courses, checkouts, etc..) that you pay for. You can argue that things like your aviation magazine subscriptions and perhaps even membership in things like NAFI would also be reasonable.

Any clothing (uniform shirts, epaulettes with fewer than 5 stripes, etc...) that you can't use for anything else are deductible as well.
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+1 also cleaning and maintenance on the uniforms,shoes etc.
 
NJP_MAN said:
This is in my interest as well. As a contract employee in the past I've never been able to exceed the standard and therefore I dont itemize. I feel like I spend more money looking for deductions and that's doesnt seem productive to me. This year may be different though.
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If you are a 1099 Contractor, itemized should have nothing to do with it. Your 1099 revenue, and the legit associated expenses, should be on Schedule C. Expenses are direct reductions of revenue to get to taxable business income. Deductions for W-2 employees who have unreimbursed business expenses are itemized on Schedule A and are subject to both income limitations and comparison against the standard deduction.
 
NJP_MAN said:
This is in my interest as well. As a contract employee in the past I've never been able to exceed the standard and therefore I dont itemize. I feel like I spend more money looking for deductions and that's doesnt seem productive to me. This year may be different though.
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I am not a tax expert, but contract income that is reported on a 1099 doesn't go into your Schedule A deductions, it goes into Schedule C. On Schedule C, there is no "exceeding the standard". You take your income, subtract your expenses, and that's what goes back onto your 1040, line 12.

As a part-time flight instructor and occassional contract pilot, I subtract every possible expense I can - NAFI membership, insurance, charts, Foreflight subscription, any specific training software or materials I might buy, recurrent training like IPCs or even just refresher flights, flight bags, headset, flashlights, you name it. Anything that is used in my business. Oshkosh is really a big trade show/conference, after all.

Now, if you also fly for personal reasons, you probably have to do some kind of a ratio for common-use stuff like a headset, for example. I do NOT bother to subtract "home office" costs, mostly because I think they'd be farily minor, a big headache, and there would be implications when I sell the house.

Again, I am not a tax expert.

(On edit, I see RSLeeds got me on the Schedule C issue.)
 
frfly172 said:
+1 also cleaning and maintenance on the uniforms,shoes etc.
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Shoes are a harder sell. Even though you may never wear your uniform shoes with other outfits, they're not considered "specialized" footwear any more than a lawyer can deduct business suits that he only wears in court.

Yes, you are correct, all these "deductions" are business expenses that come off the top on the schedule C before it goes back on the 1040. Never said (or meant to imply) otherwise.
 
flyingron said:
Shoes are a harder sell. Even though you may never wear your uniform shoes with other outfits, they're not considered "specialized" footwear any more than a lawyer can deduct business suits that he only wears in court.

Yes, you are correct, all these "deductions" are business expenses that come off the top on the schedule C before it goes back on the 1040. Never said (or meant to imply) otherwise.
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I'll be flying in khaki's and boots. Won't try and nit pick the IRS here.

FIRC, maybe a new headset, flight bag, batteries, flash light, blah, blah.

Just trying to see if there is something outside the box that I'm missing.
 
All good summaries. I agree that the home office deduction has some negative ramifications, and are more challenging to support.
 
Mileage, personal plane use for "training", clothes, hangar rent, foreflight, cell phone, basically everything I possibly can, I would have a pro do your taxes though.

Don't give the government any more money to squander then you have to.

My excess money goes into my community, all the small shops, back into GA, local pubs, having fun with good people.

My tax dollars go to building prisons, arming the police state, invading other peoples lands, feeding crack heads, etc.

Deduct every damn thing you can, starve the beast.

Also working for cash or barter is a good one too ;)
 
BellyUpFish said:
What, within reason, are you deducting at tax time?

I've never really done much contract flying, pretty much all W2 so I'm just doing a little research..

Anyone?
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Any expenses directly related to being a contract pilot.
 
Well I learned a lot here. Excellent advice and I will seek an advisor come tax time.
 
Yeh, I'm definitely going to hand it to a tax professional..

A lot of deductions that are being mentioned are being paid for by the "employer" so they're a moot point, but others, I'll deduct.
 
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