You've described two polar opposites.

I'll be amazed if the two of you stay together for five years..............people don't change.

Lead by example. Nicely done.

I pay about the same with the ATT prepaid. I use only 150 minutes per month.........give or take.

Hey, I'm down to one Motorola flip phone and one Hughes 7100 satellite phone. Hard times, gotta pinch pennies where I can!

__________________
Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

Add Bot's .02 and my .02 it's up to .06 now.

Never mix business and personal.

If you're claiming the full bill as a business expense it could make for some interesting discussions with an IRS agent should they pull your number out of the hat. It's not so much about the phone bill, it's about the perceived willingness to skirt the regs thus giving them reason to dig deeper. We had a full audit two years ago, two agents in our conference room every day from 9-5. They were hellbent on finding something to pinch us on. But thanks to GAAP and our accounting firm putting a CPA on-site during the audit to answer every question (to the tune of $10K!), they got nothing from us but a handshake and a thank you for their time. Don't give them any excuses to delve deeper.

In subsequent discussions with the firm's managing partner, it seems the IRS is targeting lower hanging fruit (LLC's, LLP's, sole proprietorships, small businesses) for audit. They can utilize one or two agents at a smaller business rather than 5-10+ needed to audit the books of a large corporation. And often the owners are just using Quicken books or their cousin Eddie for their accounting, leaving more opportunities for indiscretion or oversight. More targets = more potential fines (albeit smaller $ amount) = more bang for the buck.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

make it 2cents short of a dime.

X2

Maybe it's time to toss rich granny's phone serrvice under the bus and get rid of the pickup truck and lease a new Mercedes e350 as a company car for yourself, you can write off the lease payments. right?

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Sometimes when you're off base, you can get tagged out if you don't keep a close "Eye" on things such as finances.

__________________
For the Saved, this world is the worst it will ever get.
For the unSaved, this world is the best it will ever get.

Clk's Ebay Stuff BUY SOMETHING NOW!!!

SBA used to have good information on mixing family with business. Partners might have been in with that or it might have been separate.

When people say their business it like one big happy family, it's usually not a family business, or happy.

Now the SBA will probably just try to get you to go into debt, borrow money.

According to Hoyle (the IRS), the answer is: It depends.

The "luxury auto" rules of Sec 280F limit the amount of annual "depreciation" deductions permitted for automobiles and other "listed property." This applies to leases as well as outright purchases. While it is generally more advantgeous to lease an automobile in a business setting rather than buying for several reasons, the law limits the amount of the lease payments that are allowed as deductions, just as the amount of depreciation is limited when the auto is purchased.
These limits apply even if the auto is used 100% for business. Other complications arise when there is personal use involved.

My advice is to limit company vehicle ownership, if you must have them, to pickup trucks of equal value.

Federal Tax Regulations (TRC Version),regulation,§1.280F-7.,Internal Revenue Service,Property leased after December 31, 1986
(a)Inclusions in income of lessees of passenger automobiles leased after December 31, 1986

(1)In general.—
If a taxpayer leases a passenger automobile after December 31, 1986, the taxpayer must include in gross income an inclusion amount determined under this paragraph (a) for each taxable year during which the taxpayer leases the automobile. This paragraph (a) applies only to passenger automobiles for which the taxpayer's lease term begins after December 31, 1986. See §§1.280F-5T(d) and 1.280F-5T(e) for rules on determining inclusion amounts for passenger automobiles for which the taxpayer's lease term begins before January 1, 1987. See §1.280F-5T(h)(2) for the definition of fair market value.


(2)Inclusion Amount.—
For any passenger automobile leased after December 31, 1986, the inclusion amount for each taxable year during which the automobile is leased is determined as follows:

(i)
For the appropriate range of fair market values in the applicable table, select the dollar amount from the column for the taxable year in which the automobile is used under the lease (but for the last taxable year during any lease that does not begin and end in the same taxable year, use the dollar amount for the preceding taxable year).

(ii)
Prorate the dollar amount for the number of days of the lease term included in the taxable year.

(iii)
Multiply the prorated dollar amount by the business/investment use (as defined in §1.280F-6(d)(3)(i)) for the taxable year.

(iv)
The following table is the applicable table in the case of a passenger automobile leased after December 31, 1986, and before January 1, 1989:
.....................

As for other personal expenses, keep them to a minimum and treat them as partner draws. The 100.00 a month cell phone bill payment is treated just like a cash draw. The guy with the most "personal" expenses paid inside gets a less cash.

Hatterasguy, I assume you have a written agreement? Try to spell out these things in the partnership or LLC agreement & avoid future headaches.

If you are interested, the IRS website has audit technique guides (ATG's) that are the agent's roadmap when doing audits.

Is your business partner a family member?

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

Yes, so as they say on the Duck show, I can't fire him!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Sounds like ya'll got the same grandmother to me.

__________________
Jim

Yeah but she is rich and I don't want to pay for her phone, unless it helps my standing in the will.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

As one of my law professors once told us, the only reason for anyone to enter a partnership is the expectation that you can screw the other person more than they can screw you.

Sorry you were on the wrong end.

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1983 300SD "Guderian"
1987 MR2
2015 Camry
2015 Chevy Spark
2006 Hyundai Tucson