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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (74514)	9/11/2003 6:21:18 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

You have my sympathy. I am not only not self-employed, I am happily not employed at all. The worst tax problem I have is that my home is just about paid up, which relieves me of a tiny bit of TurboTax effort, but unfortunately requires sending more to the tax man.

To: E who wrote (74514)	9/11/2003 6:38:35 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

I keep a small notebook in my truck -- just a little 3x5 spiral bound. Every business trip I take, which is at least twice a week since I work out of the house and go to town to check the mail and file documents at least twice a week, I log the trip in the notebook, with the date and a brief note of what it's for (mail, client meeting, file, serve, conference, whatever). I happen to have a trip odometer in the truck; I just set it to zero when I leave the house and record the mileage when I get home. Takes ten seconds before I get out of the truck, if that. And I write down any other deductible expenses, like ferry fares, parking, meals I pay cash for, etc. No slips to lose, no need to find a place to put slips. In January I just total up the miles, multiple by the appropriate mileage figure, add up the other expenses, and voila. The whole thing takes me about fifteen minutes each year (I'm pretty swift with a ten key). I also mark in trips and expenses for volunteer work -- I circle those to distinguish them. It works like a champ, and one book serves me for several years. I recommend it.