satisfactionII

I was wondering about this subject and decided to ask the forum on how this is done.

I have a small real estate investment company and would like to use the company to buy the boat insurance, fuel etc. and use the the boat as an advertising vehicle to gain some tax deductions. Maybe even purchase the boat myself and quit claim it to the company?

Is anyone out there doing something like this , how are you doing it, and how much is deductible.?

Thanks

375stinger

well it depends how mcuh of the vehicels use is for the company. i think for airplanes its like 60 percent of the percentage of time used for business it is used for business. so if it was a 100,000 dollar plane you used for business 50 percent of time then you could get 30 grand

375stinger

but with the amount of money you would save from it i dont tihnk personaly its worth it

waybomb

You can claim whatever you want on your return - it is what you can get away with at a face-to-face audit that matters.

375stinger

true but considering how little money you are going to save on a boat or airplane its not worth making some outrageous claims cuse if they coem to audit(which they do if it looks like an outrageous claim) then tehy get ya for way more than it was ever worth

wananewboat

Have your agent run the insurance on the same bill as your company and try to get as much fuel as you can, thats about the best you could do.

HuntingtonBeach

Just was discussing this very thing with my accountant. Basically he said write off all the operating expenses but not the boat and keep it out of the company name.... Apparently the IRS has hired a bizillion new college rookies to look into small business and deductions like this. Sucks to be us!!!

satisfactionII

Thanks for the input.

The IRS..
I was burned by the same people when I was in the oil bidness. Yes I'm still upset and that was 20 years ago.

What I was hoping to do was get a nice poker run boat, put some advertising on it(company name of course), take it on poker runs and be able to legally deduct a lot of the cost of everything. Seems to me there should be a way to do this and come out even.

Theres got to be a CPA out there that can help set this up.
SAR

satisfactionII

FeverMike,

I currently own the house in town and a lakehouse. And the boat doesn't have a head or galley.

It sounds like my idea is almost too far fetched. Hmmm... how in the world do some of these Poker Run specials get put together and then add the dinero to make the runs? Surely everyone isn't born with the Platinum spoon and just spending money to spend money. It's got to be more than the Biggus Dickus bragging rights etc. Someone has to foot the bill. How?
Just asking of course.
SAR

beertruck

Somethings you need to watch out for when using your boat as a write off is being able to document how much time in the boat is business related vs personal use, but more importantly is what happens when you sell the boat. Lets say you buy the boat for 100K, and safely claim that you are using it 45% business, and 55% personal. You now are either going to try to quickly depreciate the boat to the max you can for business, or 45K. ( or you can slowing depreciate it say 5 years). Now you sell it for 60k 5 years later. You now have to take a gain of 45k ( the amount you depreciated it for over the years) when you sell. So now you are paying the taxes on the 45k you saved earlier. Now I am not a accountant, but I have discussed the matter with my accountant many times for my vehicles, boats, trucks ect that have my logo all over them, and have been in national print, and on national tv. Uncle Sam will get his share, the question is when would you like to give it to him. If you had a great year this year, and expect the years in the future not to be as good, go for it and pay later while in a lower tax bracket. If your financial status is getting better every year, don't try to take advantage of this, and try to save when you are in a lower bracket, only to be taxed on the 45k later when it will cost you more.