home defense gun tax deduction

[patentmike]

I was just starting to work on my taxes and when I saw that tax preparation expenses were deductible. I thought of other services you can do for yourself to help out with the job of governing. Home-defense firearms should be tax deductible. Within reason, maybe one per year, so guys can't try to deduct their collecting habit. I'm going to write to my congressman and suggest it.

 

[beerslurpy]

I would love to be able to get a 30 percent discount on the NFA item of my choice once a year. It would be like making a 401k contribution, only more fun

 

[Gordon Fink]

Never happen. The gun-control crowd is already busy trying to add more taxes onto guns and shooting supplies.

~G. Fink

 

[Kamicosmos]

I was half tempted to deduct my CCW training and permit fees, since it is State-required after all.

Heh.

 

[TaxPhd]

Gotta be a business angle to it. Either you "do the gun" professionally, as a trainer or something, have required job related expenses, or security expenses for your own business, it probably won't fly.



Scott

 

[Reno]

Gotta be a business angle to it. Either you "do the gun" professionally, as a trainer or something, have required job related expenses, or security expenses for your own business, it probably won't fly.

Is an alarm system for a business tax deductable?

 

[R.H. Lee]

Is an alarm system for a business tax deductable?

Yes. Everything for a business is tax deductible, either directly or through depreciation, as long as it's normal and reasonable.

 

[hkOrion]

maybe "I'm self-employed and I took classes to protect my investments". heck, if a criminal can deduct their 'expene' of purchasing a handgun to mug someone, why can't we deduct our expenses for goblin-proofin ourselves?

 

[Firethorn]

I'm military. I'm seeking to improve my skills above what the USAF prepares me for. Deductable?

 

[R.H. Lee]

I'm military. I'm seeking to improve my skills above what the USAF prepares me for. Deductable

Possibly. See Form 2106 'Employee Business Expense'

 

[TaxPhd]

Just make sure you are clear about the difference between an expense being deductible and you being able to take it.

For example:

Advanced training ends up being deductible as a non-reimbursed employee expense. That's great, but if you don't itemize your deductions (you take the standard deduction) you get nothing. Or, you itemize, but the cost of the training doesn't exceed 2% of your AGI, you get nothing.



Scott

 

[LiquidTension]

I can deduct my carry weapon and practice ammo (business expense), but I don't because I don't want to draw attention to myself. They'd LOVE to audit me...I'm a poor college kid that can't fight them in court. Besides, I already deduct mileage, cameras, printers, computer equipment...basically enough stuff that I only pay the 15% "self employment tax." Funny how that works, considering I'm not self employed

 

[yorec]

I believe it also has to be a required peice of equipment - I used to be able to deduct my duty pistol as a police officer, but couldn't the rifle I supplied because it was an "optional specialty" weapon... (got that fixed by getting the chief to change the policy)

Not sure what the rules are this year.

How about a range instructor at a local range? Small town - might be a requirement to have an example firearm to aid in teaching?

 

[patentmike]

I am sure there are plenty of business reasons for gun purchases, like the range instructor example - Don't forget to deduct the ammo and targets too. What I'd really like to see is a bill to make self-defense deductible apart from any other business expense. Maybe somewhere there is a congressman who would sponsor it. I'm sure the industry would be behind it.

 

[erik the bold]

I'm awaiting a reply from my accountant on this subject, but the way I believe it works, at least in Michigan, is that the permit/fingerprint fees are deductible since they are effectively a tax, like license plate fees. Although required by the State, the class probably isn't deductible.

If I get a response contrary to this, I'll edit or repost......

 

[R.H. Lee]

Or, you itemize, but the cost of the training doesn't exceed 2% of your AGI, you get nothing.

Or you could explain to your client that it's in the standard deduction. Makes it a little more palatable for them.

 

[TaxPhd]

I tried that before, but then they asked me what their sd would be with and without the item in question, and when they found out it wouldn't change, they didn't find it very palatable.



Scott

 

[R.H. Lee]

I know. I got a question the other day..."mah neighbor gits to write off his hawgs, kin ah do that?"

Me: "Do you have any income from the hogs?"
Them: "Uh-huh. Sometimes"
Me: "Do you report the income, maybe on a Schedule F?"
Them: "Huh?"
Me: "Unless you have income from a trade or business, there is nothing against which to write them off."
Them: {blank stare}
:banghead:

 

[patentmike]

Ah nev'r tried to write on muh hawgs. I've just et 'em.
Reminds me: I heerd talk of folks riding poultry. Sounded like the dangest thing, then ah figured out they was writing poetry.

But I digress.

 

[Kharn]

Didnt some state try to make the purchase of a gun safe tax deductable?

Kharn

 

[Sam Adams]

Folks, business vs. personal use aside - ARE YOU NUCKING FUTS???!!!

Let's assume that there is a law passed that will allow anyone, business owner or individual, to deduct the cost of a home defense gun, x rounds of ammo for training each year and $x for a formal training course every year or 2 (I did say "assume"). Sounds great, doesn't it? WRONG! Because in order to prove that you actually bought the gun, you'll have to supply Uncle Gungrabber with the make, model and SERIAL NUMBER of said gun. Yeah, I know, most guns bought require a 4473 - but there's no use in making it easier for them. A tax deduction in exchange for a central registry is nothing more than allowing yourself to be bribed in order to inform upon yourself.

No thank you.

 

[M1911Owner]

First off, everybody needs to have a business! There are just so many things that a business is useful for. (Such as, making money... ) And when you have a business, you can deduct all sorts of expenses that are part of the business.

If your business involves something that might reasonably require protection (say, jewelry), then a gun is probably a reasonable business expense.

Sam Adams, you wouldn't normally have to tell the .gov all that stuff about your weapons. You don't fill in a blank with "I BOUGHT A GUN FOR $1200!!". You'd probably just include it under "Misc expenses," and, unless they had some reason to audit you, that would be the end of it. It you were audited, they'd probably want to see the cancelled check, and they'd probably want you explain why you need a gun in your course of business.

Training you'd list under, "Training expenses." Ammo I would think would reasonably be "Supplies." Etc. They would only be an issue if you were audited, and the auditor decided that the expenses weren't real business expenses.

(On the second thought, $1,200 might be a bit much for an expense--that's getting into the range where you really ought to capitalize it, and depreciate it over the course of the appropriate number of years. My former CPA, who had previously been with the IRS, told me that it's considered normal for a business to expense what would normally be capital items when they were less than a specified dollar value. He said that $500 was typical of many companies, but thought that $1,000 would make sense for me (Big companies like to capitalize things because that improves the bottom line on the published financials; I didn't care about that, and preferred to expense things in the year in which I received the income that was spent on the item.). I don't know how far you can push that line before the IRS will balk.)

 

[deanf]

No. There should be no deductions, and every income should be taxed at the same rate.

 

[Sam Adams]

M1911Owner

Patentmike said, in his original post:

Home-defense firearms should be tax deductible. Within reason, maybe one per year, so guys can't try to deduct their collecting habit. I'm going to write to my congressman and suggest it.

Thus, it appears that he was talking about a specific deduction for HD firearms, one that would require a new line on Schedule A, or perhaps its own form and a line on the 1040 itself. Having been a CPA for a long time, I know how this would be done - it would be done similar to the child-care credit, which has all kinds of information reported to the IRS. With a gun, you can be absolutely assured that they will want at least a make and model description, if not the serial number. Again, no thanks.

Now if, OTOH, we adopted a Swiss-style program where every male between 18 and 45 was in the militia and HAD to train every year, and HAD to maintain a full auto with ammo at home, with the ability to buy your service weapon for $100 or so when you left, then I wouldn't mind reporting the info. You see, then the fed.gov would know that x tens of millions of full autos were out there, and that any attempt to collect them would be, uh, contested.

 

[Tall Man]

No. There should be no deductions, and every income should be taxed at the same rate.

That's right.

A flat, modest Federal tax rate for everyone. Everyone. There is no such thing as a "poor" person in this country. I've visited too many foreign countries to believe otherwise.

I agree with Sam Adams, too.

TM