# Tax Deduction for personal computer?



## Bougie (Jul 12, 2005)

Do you use the cost of your personal computer as a tax deduction if you also use that computer for personal use?

My old computer died and I bought a new one early last year. I couldn't do my tshirt business without it, so it definitely is used for business, but I also use it for personal, non-business uses. Should I use it as a tax deduction? Has the IRS ever told you that you can't have a deduction like this, i.e. an item that has both business and personal usage?


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Your tax deduction will depend on a number of things; % of business use, whether it's used in a qualified home office, etc. 

It gets complicated. Talk to your tax guy.


----------



## lindsayanng (Oct 3, 2008)

yea, if its at home, and you dont have your home set as a "home office" then i do not think you can write off ANY of it. If its a laptop, then you can because you can say that you bring it to work with you daily..


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

lindsayanng said:


> yea, if its at home, and you dont have your home set as a "home office" then i do not think you can write off ANY of it.


This is not correct. That's why it's important to talk to your tax guy and stop relying on scrubs like us.


----------



## lindsayanng (Oct 3, 2008)

How sure are you about that? I mean, you would have to PROVE that you do work out of your house, and then, they would ask "if you do work out of your house, and you own the business, why isnt your home listed as a tax deductable "office"?" I'm sure you CAN, and there are some accountants who will say you CAN, but when you get audited, so prove that you work from home but do not write off any other assets from your house will be hard. 

Why not add your home as an "office" and then you can write off about 1/4 of your phone, internet, and otherthings.. Well, the 1/4 isnt nessecarily accurate, but a good percentage/


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

I have a computer at my shop and one in a corner desk in my game room. Both are business write off's because both are used to conduct my business.


----------



## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

YOu'll get b****r all else out of the tax man!


----------



## lindsayanng (Oct 3, 2008)

ok.. I guess my accountant is too "by the book" then. We take lots of deductions, but because we have an actual OFFICE where the business is conducted, even though i do some work from home (mostly contacts and emails and such) we were told its not a deduction. Its like when you have someone who works for a real estate company. That person does a LOT of emailing and working from home, but they do not write off their personal computer as a company thing.. HOWEVER, if you are a construction guy, and you buy timberlands, you can write those off as a work boot, but you CAN wear them on your personal time.. 

A computer is different because you have to prove that you use it ALL for business, or you can only write off a "portion" of the cost, and even then, you would have a hard time proving it.


----------



## veedub3 (Mar 29, 2007)

I agree with Spalthead. In my case I own a t-shirt business that has a physical shop. I am a Real Estate Appraiser that has my RE office out of my home and yes office equipment is a write-off and yes I have written off my Desktop and My Laptop as both fall under office equipment. At home I write of the square footage of the space used for the office and a percentage of the utilities, phone, internet, water, etc. and it is legal to do so. Because I am in the Real Estate game I also get to write-off mileage, car maintenace, gas, and anything else I spent as long as it's an legitimate business expense. The only thing my CPA insured that I strictly follow is keeping business and personal expenses seperate. So I do not buy a PC on the same receipt with the groceries. (just an example) When I am on RE business and need gas I purchase with the business credit card. When I am out lollygagging with the top down and need gas I buy with my personal credit card. When time to file my taxes I have every purchase receipt for that previous year, a copy of every utitlity bill for the last 12 months, credit card statements, and the canceled checks to show it was paid. Now every year you can't say you bought a PC (I guess you could if you did but what's the chance in that happening) and deduct it or that will surely draw red flags. But you can write off a PC as a business expense if you have a business.


Katrina


----------



## lindsayanng (Oct 3, 2008)

veedub, the REASOn you can write off the computer is because you set your home as a workplace. THAT is why you can write off any office supplies for your inhome work place. I also can write off my computers because my business is run out of my home.. HOWEVER, if your home is not added as a workplace, and you have a physical office and on all of your tax forms, you only have one work place, then you can not write off a computer that resides outside of that work place.

If you want to write off that computer, and you do a lot of work from home, then you need to (and really SHOULD) write off a portion of everything in your house as an "in home office" 

Listen, i do bookkeeping for a living, and have dealt with accountants a lot in my short business life. I know that this is fact, however, when it comes to taxes, people take liberties. like i said, you CAN write it off if your HOME is also an official office


----------



## ID Malien (Jan 8, 2009)

My accountant advised us to use a percentage each year... 25% each year on a new computer.. because computers are usually outdated after 4 years and it goes by the percentage of how you use the computer.. ex - business vs. personal... I would say 25% is a good number for the year.. but def ask your tax guy.


----------

