This was my first year on the net and i made around $10,000 from affiliate programs not to bad for me i didn't start until June my main concern is that i will have to pay half of that back since no taxes at all was taking out from what i made. I spent around $2,000 for 6 months worth of hosting i went from host to host trying to find a good one so it's hard to keep track of them they where all dedicated by the way.

I can write off the money i spent for hosting as a business related expense can't i? If i made $10,000 total income and you take $2,000 off for business related expense would i then be taxed on $8,000 total income instead of $10,000? Is that how it works :confused:

How do i prove that i spent $2,000 on my hosting i paid for it all buy credit card and i do not have my old receipts to prove that i did. I think you can say your computer isp etc as a business related expense to right? I paid over $3,500 for my computer (custom made) but have no receipt to prove that i did this year im keeping track of every little thing!!

Thanks for the help!

Well I think, you can deduct the hosting cost from your total income, because those are costs you have to bare, and there fore your net profit reduces greatly. And a person does not pay tax on his expenses but he pays tax on his net profit.

I suggest, you call up your credit card company, and ask them if there is anyway you can get a receipt on the bills payed??

That's what i was going to try do you think they do that?

Thanks

Yea.. I think they wouldnt have a problem with it. Also, if you are able to cheque your credit card statements online, you can always view the older statements. Try your bank website too.

Pardon me, but asking for tax advice HERE is a BIG MISTAKE! If you take bad advice and get audited, you're screwed. Talk with a tax professional. You're likely to make even more money next year and you want to get all your ducks in a row. We just had a case on our own forum where an instrument builder starting out in the business made some assumptions, was wrong, and ended up with a big bill from the IRS.

<edit>
Er -- no insult intended to the fine denizens of this forum, but we're not in the tax business.
</edit>

[Edited by Deb Suran on 01-05-2001 at 09:07 AM]

Hmm... I guess, you should go get some profesional advice too. I dint mean to mis-guide you or anything.

I had to declare my Internet income last year on my tax bill, so naturally I did it minus expenses (phone bill, rent, etc.) Unfortunately, Revenue Canada has just decided to stick me with a $350 fine for "misreporting the size of my expenses" (which totalled a whopping $900 for the year. Big deal.) So yeah, be very careful.

(By the way, I fully intend to get it back on this year's return with my own unique interest calculations. ;))

Hmm.. oh ok.. Well over hear, in India, we do deduct the costs, and and only pay tax on the net profit. I thought thats how it worked everywhere. But, yea, I think you should seek profesional help though.

A tax professional will be able to help you. You can deduct *much* more than just your hosting costs and the cost of your computer, but you need receipts and advice as to what and how to deduct the expenses.

From owning a business in CT for a few years, I deducted everything to show a loss for the three years I had the business. There are times when you should/should not buy things (such as computers), and a tax advisor would be able to guide you as to when and what to do.

Trying to do this now, might be a bit late (as you might not have saved everything you *should* have saved), but for next year, if your income is $10,000 from this, it should be very easy to get it all back. (Or at least spend money on things in place of spending money on taxes).

Many resellers (some smaller up-stream hosts too) operate from home. Careful with that home office deduction. It's often more trouble than it's worth.

Originally posted by Deb Suran
Pardon me, but asking for tax advice HERE is a BIG MISTAKE!

That's the best advice in this thread... lol.

If you don't know what you're doing with the money, go get a good accountant.

The cost isn't all that great, and a reasonably astute accountant will save you far more than the cost of retaining one.

Ya'd think that somewhere, somehow, there'd be a website for stuff like this. "Virtual Accountant." Kind of a geeky-looking guy drawn from animationfactory.com that freely dispenses tax advice and Pez. Pez RULES!

Originally posted by Spider John
Ya'd think that somewhere, somehow, there'd be a website for stuff like this. "Virtual Accountant." Kind of a geeky-looking guy drawn from animationfactory.com that freely dispenses tax advice and Pez. Pez RULES!


Thats a good idea you know.. Ill give some of the VC's I know a ring.. :D