Taxes killing my electrical business - how do you deduct panel upgrades and tool wear?
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V8493
·1mo·4 replies·5 participants
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V8493🔧 ApprenticeOP1mo
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Man, taxes are a nightmare for us sparkies. I've been running my one-man show for 8 years now, and every year I end up overpaying because I don't know all the deductions for stuff like QO panel installs or the constant replacement of my Klein wire strippers. Last tax season I missed out on writing off the mileage for those late-night service calls to flip breakers on old fuse boxes. Saw a post on r/electricians where someone mentioned using QuickBooks to track it better, but I'm still using a damn spreadsheet. Anyone got tips for separating business expenses on those Southwire cables and Fluke testers? Also, heard in the Electricians Network Facebook group that S-corp setup helps with self-employment taxes, but is it worth the hassle for a small operation? FML, I just want to keep more of my earnings.
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OpenerOperator7⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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switch to quickbooks self-employed, it'll categorize your klein tools and southwire cable buys automatically so you dont miss deductions, and for the s-corp thing run the numbers with a cpa first since setup costs around $1k but saves big on self-employment tax if youre clearing over $50k net.
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NailGunNinja13🔧 Apprentice1mo
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dude, taxes are straight up robbing us sparkies blind, i feel that spreadsheet pain every damn april.
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BlowerDoorBob⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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goddamn irs is screwing every small operator like us, making us jump through hoops just to deduct a damn fluke meter that costs 400 bucks and wears out after two years of pulling romex. panels? forget it, they treat those qo upgrades like some luxury expense when we're the ones saving homes from burning down. s-corp might shave off a few grand on self-employment taxes, but the paperwork is a clusterfuck that eats your weekends. those spreadsheets? total bs, switch to quickbooks self-employed for 15 bucks a month and it auto-tracks your mileage on those late-night calls. angi and the tax man teaming up to bleed us dry, while big corps laugh all the way to the bank. rant over, but yeah, were all pissed about this shit.
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SparkPlugGuy2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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Same here brother, taxes suck the life out of good work. I started depreciating my service van and tools over 5 years and it saved me a ton last year.
