End of year earnings....

[LUMBERLEO]

     Anyone out there know if FLW offers a end of year earning report and if so at what amount?  I made 2700 dollars in the BFL's, I know for sure I can come up with way more expense then that but I am not sure if I have to actually claim it or not.  If I do have to claim it can I write of my boat.

I would appreciate any help or suggestions.

Thanks,
Scott

[LGMOUTH]

 Normally if you make more than 600 dollars, the tournament organization will send you a 1099 form. This will have all of your earnings on it. I won 1600 dollars last year in the bfl and havent received the 1099 yet but I do expect to get one.
You can claim some of your boat and intrest on the loan, boat gas, lures, entry fees, hotels, milage, parking permits, equipment, liscense fees, boat insurance, and a number of other things. Of course check with your tax person to verify all of this but thats what I do. Ive been writing this stuff off for about 6 or 7 years now.

[jcox7]

I agree that you can write it off I am currently doing this but if you did not keep recipts and driving logs be careful.

[LGMOUTH]

Yes I forgot receipts, receipts, receipts.

[motocross269]

What you write off will have to be above a percentage of your total adjusted gross income. It will not pull dollar for dollar off of what you make bass fishing..The only way to do that is to start a business..and the government has regulations for business that are tied to recreation.
you have to show a profit in a certain number of years...I am not a tax person, but I talked to my rep about this just recently..I can't remember the exact numbers, but I would have to have have a pretty good chunk of write offs to put a dent in any winnings
I used to make a little money racing motorcycles and we just tied it into my sponsors business as an expense. I basically raced for him for free on paper.
I am sure all of the top money makers on this web site can give you some sound advice..I would just check with an accountant or Certified tax prepayer before you file.
It seems like all I do anymore is pay taxes...I use to live on what I paid in taxes last year...

[canvsbk]

 I agree, be careful here. I'm no accountant but you need to be absolutley certain about what you can and cannot do. Look at a 1099 as an invitation to my very good freinds at the IRS!
I could talk about this one even longer than I could about the Texas rig. Even knowing full well that BIG Brother is busy with other more important matters - I'll leave it with a simple be carefull.

[djkimmel]

You will get a 1099 for any cash total over $600 from FLW Outdoors. They do send a copy of the 1099 to the IRS, so you probably want to do the right thing.

I used to fish a tournament years ago - 1 open each year - that gave the team two individual $599.99 checks so they wouldn't have to do a 1099 The director always said he'd give the other penny if you really wanted it that bad.

You really need to get expert advice that you feel comfortable with. I have had different tax people be more or less confident in how they recommend handling these kinds of tax issues - basically you either claim it as a hobby/recreation, in which case you can claim expenses up to what you made, but not claim a loss.

Or you can claim it as a business, but you have to really be running it as a business, in which case you can choose to claim a loss. Be aware that major things like claiming the depreciation on your boat completely changes what you can and can't do with regards to your boat for the multiple years you have to claim it. Plus it may definitely affect the sale of your later in since it would now be the sale of business equipment.

Depreciation of a major item like a boat is another one of those things like claiming a home office that increase your odds of audit, in which case you better have great records and documentation of a business endeavor. If you are claiming a loss, what are you doing to change that? The kinds of things you would do with any business.

It is more complex than that, but it really is a combination of not paying any more than you are legally required and how much risk you want to incur based on your interpretation and practices in regards to tax law.

Get some tax documents from your post office or library. Get Schedule C and read all the rules regarding its use. There is also a self-employed tax booklet - probably won't apply to you unless you make more than you spend clearly and depending on what you do moving forward. Just be sure you understand all the rules and regs, or hire someone who does.

[LGMOUTH]

 This is no different than any other business, if you make money you have to claim it and you can write off things that you use to make that money. Any business owner will tell you that. Yes you should be careful in what you write off and you shouldn't get crazy but it is totally legal and you should write off what you can.

While we are on the subject, to keep track of all of your income/expenses and all that go along with your fishing try the ANGLERS GENIE. What a great product. Using it this past year and running a quick report at the end shows all of the money that I made and where I spent it all. Very easy to use and understand. Saves all of the headache when it comes to figuring out my taxes. I just cant let my wife see the report.

And again talk to your tax person about all of this and you should be fine.

[djkimmel]

This is no different than any other business, if you make money you have to claim it and you can write off things that you use to make that money. Any business owner will tell you that. Yes you should be careful in what you write off and you shouldn't get crazy but it is totally legal and you should write off what you can.

While we are on the subject, to keep track of all of your income/expenses and all that go along with your fishing try the ANGLERS GENIE. What a great product. Using it this past year and running a quick report at the end shows all of the money that I made and where I spent it all. Very easy to use and understand. Saves all of the headache when it comes to figuring out my taxes. I just cant let my wife see the report.

And again talk to your tax person about all of this and you should be fine.

Great advice (especially the 'wife part' although I feel to be fair I'll change it to 'spouse part' )

[Skip Johnson]

Make sure you HIRE a qualified tax person if you want to write off expenses if you cashed checks its very tricky but at the same time easy if you have the right tax person.
YOU DONT WANT TO GET AUDITED!!!!!
for the average guy that cashes some decent checks you will want to make sure you dont write off more than you won in most cases! you can write off your expenses such as milaege on your vehicle to get to that lake to prefish and fish fuel and oil in your boat and fishing tackle, the safe way to do it is try to focus on expenses to get that check at that lake and yes some rods and reels and extra tackle can be thrown in on it too.
now when you do it as a buisness as I have in the past you can run into a few snafoos such as your accountant will right off the interest and depreciation on your boat and tow vehicle but you wont personoly own the boat evan though your title says you do and when you sell it the irs has tricks up there sleeve that will make you have to pay more taxes to make up the depreciation and interest deductions that they gave you if you sell it early or "stop doing buisness", you have to show a reasonable profit within 3 years, you have to carry commercial insurance on your boat and tow vehicle and you can plan on an audit somewhere down the road and thats not a good thing for most of us including myself, I was audited and denied $2700 of my deductions becouse I sold a boat and the penalties and interest came up to $8000 that I had to pay.

The IRS is hip to this fishing thing and they know that we usualy spend more than we earn but fishing in most cases is considered recreational by the IRS so when you cash a $600+ check and do your taxes claim it even if you dont get a 1099 its your obligation not the club or organisation, try to focus on your expenses for that check that you earned and in some cases if it was a BIG check you can throw in the tournaments that you didnt cash a check at but again fishing is recreation even our local tournament stuff not what you spent to buy your boat or recreational fishing at other lakes becouse when it comes time to get audited "if you do" you wont be worried if you havent gotton carried away with your write offs.

[LUMBERLEO]

I'll be honest with ya.  That's not what I was hopping you guys would say.  I was hoping for something more like "don't worry about it."  I already have to pay in before this and I also won 1800 dollars in a 15 minute stretch at the casino.  (The only time I have been to a casino in the last 2 years) This is going to be a very expensive tax year I am afraid.

Thanks again for the help, to the accountant I go.

Scott 

[djkimmel]

I hate to say it, but... better safe than sorry!

At least you have some good news before the little bit of bad news. Get all your receipts together. Figure out your mileage to and from the tournaments, and take that with you. Any launch fees you paid. Any Rider fees you paid.

[Skip Johnson]

could you imagine if we were to put all our expenses down that it took to earn that check lets say you won a good one like a BFL about $5k  lets see I want to write off my boat payments $4 to $5k all tournament entrys $1.125.00  fuel for boat $1.000 tackle $2.000   1000+ miles on the tow vehicle at like 30 something cents per mile daducted= like $10 thousand dollors in deductable expenses can you say red flag.

hey guys dont let my wife see this cuz I will have a red flag upside my head

[Genie]

Sorry guys - just can't resist this ...

SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT

The Angler's Genie can track everything down to the exact penny for you in the Money Management module.  You can even scan your physical receipt and store it electronically in the system and attach it to the money item for review at any time.  You can separate into categories, group by income/expense with subgroups within ... heck you can even activate/deactivate an item so you can track it in the system and still control whether or not to have it appear on a report.

All this and more .... with The Angler's Genie

END SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT

Sorry - Just couldn't resist 

-Genie

[Skip Johnson]

Good to know Genie will have to check out what you got sometime.

[djkimmel]

The Angler's Genie from the GreatLakesBass.com store

[LGMOUTH]

Now thats a SHAMELESS PLUG!!!

[macbass]

But for income tax purposes this also depends on if you have a outside job besides fishing depends on what you can right off. If your fishing income is not over a certain percentage of your income it is considered a hobby and that limits what you can right off.