New Instructor and Taxes

[TMHeimer]

Again, this underscores the need to talk to an accountant.

It's bad enough when someone suggest that there's a consensus about SCUBA stuff on ScubaBoard - fins, BCD, etc - but to offer that "there's a consensus" about taxes, much less that someone should follow that advice, is really stretching the bounds of credulity.

Agree completely about seeing an accountant. Just reporting what I recall being discussed on SB. Not suggesting any advice be followed.

 

[tursiops]

It is hard to earn enough to cover insurance, fees, updates, new training materials, DEMA, and clearly 100% instructor-related stuff. But when you throw in something like dive travel and additional equipment, it is REALLY hard. You might not be able to claim all your diving expenses and still show a profit. Luckily, many of my purchases are really to support my recreational and tech/cave hobby, so they don't get claimed against the business side of things. Travel is harder: you go on a liveaboard or to someplace like Bonaire, do some dives with some students and some recreational dives too....how do you approportion your trip costs, when the dives were maybe 25% of them professional and 75% recreational? My accountant (you DO have one of those, don't you?) is happy for me to use those percentages and prorate any of my expenses that are supporting both the pro and the fun diving. The key is to report that you made money 3 out of 5 years (that is ANY consecutive 5 years...so you can't make money in years 1-3 of years 1-5 and then lose money in years 6-7 of years 6-10, because that is 4 years in a row (4-5-6-7) of losing money) and don't try and cheat.

 

[scubanerdnick]

So aside from the you're a moron search Google post, from what I'm seeing is float it all through my accountant. Much obliged.


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[Damselfish]

So aside from the you're a moron search Google post

are you referring to "site:scubaboard.com instructor tax deduction"?

look closer, that wasn't "you're a moron search google." They're giving you a way to use google search on Scubaboard content specifically, to get around SB's crappy search functionality. (It can be done with any website.)

 

[scubanerdnick]

Yeah guess I should have googled rather than used the board search function. All other info points towards just run it by your accountant. Thanks for everyone's time.


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[tursiops]

Jeez, OP, be sure and ask another question on SB and give another really snarky response when people try and give you good advice; a lot of people will put you on ignore.

WTH did you expect for an answer, some magic trick?

 

[scubanerdnick]

No snark intended. Plenty of good information all stemming back to run it through an accountant. I should have looked/searched google harder for advice. Conveying snark I think was a result of my poor grammar and the nature of typing and not speaking. Literally no offense intended and I will take all advice. Including future self editing so I don't sound like a d-bag.

Sorry for any offense taken.

Thanks for all the responses.


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