Tax Season!

[ResQUrCat4Free]

With tax season upon us, I figured I would start a thread inquiring about what and how you deduct, if any, expenses for the fire department? State or Federal? Deduct gas? Equipment? Time?

[PFDFIREDOG]

being a volunteer i can deduct all mileage, going to and from firehouse for meetings, fire calls etc but iv been told you need alot to make it worth your while, so i dont bother. ask your taxpreparer unless you use turbo tax and im sure theres a place to put it, i have a cpa do mine but mine are complicated.

Good Luck

NOTHINGS ILLEGAL UNTIL YOU GET CAUGHT!
HEHE

[craigsheets]

Mileage, clothing, expenses, meals eaten while on duty, class costs you pay, hotel expenses for OOT training.

[PFDFIREDOG]

i must be lucky my vollie department pays for everything execpt for the close i wear and mileage.

[DennisTheMenace]

being a volunteer i can deduct all mileage, going to and from firehouse for meetings, fire calls etc but iv been told you need alot to make it worth your while, so i dont bother. ask your taxpreparer unless you use turbo tax and im sure theres a place to put it, i have a cpa do mine but mine are complicated.

Good Luck

NOTHINGS ILLEGAL UNTIL YOU GET CAUGHT!
HEHE

If you already itemize it is worth it, if you are not a home owner and just take the standard deduction, it will most likely not add up to enough to make it worth it. I am adding it all up, it will knock my tax bill down $500 or so.

[MetalMedic]

I am a home owner (well, I am paying my mortgage holder so that I can someday own it!), so I do the long form. I keep track of my mileage to calls, training and meetings. I dededuct any equipment I persoanlly buy that I use at the fire department including gloves, hand tools, emergency lighting, etc. If your department requires that you have a telephone, you can use the basic phone service expense as a deduction. If you pay to clean your uniforms (turnouts are included in that definition) you can use that as a deduction. Any professional magazines or training books you purchase can be used as a deduction. If your Fire Association is a non-profit organization, you can figure any donations, or 'in kind' donations to be tax deductible.

That is all I can think of at 0230 hrs... I am sure there are more. I use Turbo Tax and it does a nice job in helping me find all of my potential deductions.

[PFDFIREDOG]

I'm going to have to pay more attention to this cause it doesn't hurt to get the most out of our government,

[DugdogFiredog]

My department makes it very simple. They award us $1.50 for each call we attend for the year, then cut us a check every January. Therefore we don't have to worry about FD stuff with our taxes