Expensing Hunting through business LLC

[Lowedown]

Randy Newberg did a Q and A where he ended up getting a lot of questions about this since he is a CPA.

 

[displacedtexan]

How are you expensing hunting related expenses through an LLC unless you are a guide or in the outdoor industry somehow?

I'm in construction. I write off a lot of stuff.

My work uniform is Simms
shirts and Orvis pants. I need good base layers and outer shells for working outside in the cold. Sitka, Filson and First Lite make some good options. I travel for work some, I have a First Lite duffle bag. Gotta keep drinks cold in the summer, there's a few Yeti coolers...

It can definitely be possible to write some stuff off, but I definitely know people who are pushing it more than a little bit.

 

[WISGUY]

I just get off the phone with my CPA. He said as long as I have record of a sale with the individual I'm hunting/fishing with, I should be fine. Said just throw some company logo hats on for the pictures.

Wish I was in the youtube world and making videos! Would be way more fun than manufacturing.

 

[Reburn]

I'm in construction. I write off a lot of stuff.

My work uniform is Simms
shirts and Orvis pants. I need good base layers and outer shells for working outside in the cold. Sitka, Filson and First Lite make some good options. I travel for work some, I have a First Lite duffle bag. Gotta keep drinks cold in the summer, there's a few Yeti coolers...

It can definitely be possible to write some stuff off, but I definitely know people who are pushing it more than a little bit.

Worth noting not all CPAs are good.
I'm not a CPA I just pay one.
I can tell you that writing off trips to Argentia are pretty much been stopped. Again they changed some laws a while back.
I can tell you that if you push the envelope even though you paid a CPA you are the one that will be on the hook to the IRS. Nothing like an audit to clear up alot of your questions the hard way.

 

[displacedtexan]

I just get off the phone with my CPA. He said as long as I have record of a sale with the individual I'm hunting/fishing with, I should be fine. Said just throw some company logo hats on for the pictures.

Wish I was in the youtube world and making videos! Would be way more fun than manufacturing.

It does have to be reasonable...

No one is taking a customer on an out of state hunting trip to thank them for $3,000 in sales.

 

[Dave Thomas]

If you always do the right thing, you won't ever have to learn your cell mates name!

His name is Ben Dover.

 

[displacedtexan]

Worth noting not all CPAs are good.
I'm not a CPA I just pay one.
I can tell you that writing off trips to Argentia are pretty much been stopped. Again they changed some laws a while back.
I can tell you that if you push the envelope even though you paid a CPA you are the one that will be on the hook to the IRS. Nothing like an audit to clear up alot of your questions the hard way.

Yeah, I'm definitely on the more conservative side because of the liability.

 

[JeffRaines]

Wish I was in the youtube world and making videos! Would be way more fun than manufacturing.

I'm pretty sure that's the reason most YouTube guys do it. Imagine being able to write off all your outdoors expenses as business related. So long as you have the channel and videos to back it up I can't see how they'd be able to balk too much.

I do, however, remember reading somewhere that you can only write off business expenses for like 2-3 years. If youre not showing a profit by that time I dont think you can continue "sinking" money into it and be able to write it off. I didn't research if just selling a few items would count as turning a profit of some sort. Maybe that's why they offer merch as well, so they can show they're turning some kind of profit however small it might be.

 

[WISGUY]

I do, however, remember reading somewhere that you can only write off business expenses for like 2-3 years. If youre not showing a profit by that time I dont think you can continue "sinking" money into it and be able to write it off.

Sounds right. This is my 2nd year as a legit business and I was told it would be in my best interest to start showing some profit after 3 years.

 

[Marble]

I've written off nearly an entire fishing trip for 4. Everyone going was part of my business.

For hunting trips, depending on where it is, I can write off fuel. If I did take some of my customers hunting, I would write the entire thing off. I do the same thing for golfing events, dinners, and other sponsored types of events.

When I was in law enforcement, I could write off some things, but not everything. Just some gear, some rifles, scopes and optics and some clothes. So you have to be carefull. Just because you've been getting away with it for years doesn't mean a random audit won’t happen. Once they open that up, they can go back years to see what else has been going on.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

 

[Carr5vols]

Another scenario. I buy 5 acres in x state out west. I need to look in on my property once per year..is it possible to write off fuel. Hotel. Food. Etc for this visit?

 

[mi650]

If you have a LLC consult your CPA. These rules have changed significantly.

This.

Mine once told me to have my business buy a Winnebago! She was dead serious.

 

[Jaegerr]

This would be a CPA question, but if you do it, be sure to let us know how it goes for educational purposes

 

[wapitibob]

I'm in construction. I write off a lot of stuff.

My work uniform is Simms
shirts and Orvis pants. I need good base layers and outer shells for working outside in the cold. Sitka, Filson and First Lite make some good options. I travel for work some, I have a First Lite duffle bag. Gotta keep drinks cold in the summer, there's a few Yeti coolers...

It can definitely be possible to write some stuff off, but I definitely know people who are pushing it more than a little bit.

this ^^^

I had a cnc shop and bought a Polaris 500 to shuttle aluminum bars from the dock to my cnc.

 

[wapitibob]

Another scenario. I buy 5 acres in x state out west. I need to look in on my property once per year..is it possible to write off fuel. Hotel. Food. Etc for this visit?

We used a decade worth of expenses to reduce our cost basis when we sold some out of area acreage. CPA could tell you if you could expense annually.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

You can write anything you want off. Just dont cry when you get caught and pay the price for it.

 

[abbrown]

@Bluumoon Alaska dental sedation training trip

 

[180ls1]

This is how its done boys. Going to 10x my 10 LLCs next year then 10x that the following year.

 

[Muledeerfanatic]

How can the IRS say my hunting boots aren't for work?
I write it all off

 

[TheCoyote]

Get a good Tax professional and do not stick your neck out any further than theirs.
They will not always tell you what you want to hear, they will protect themselves and their livelihood.

I know someone who was doing all kinds of "business related" write offs for years. They were even bragging about it. That is until the IRS audit came in. Now they are on a payment plan for the 150k they owe the IRS, mostly spent on their friends