Deduct It Book Turns Knowledge Into Power

When I worked for law firms and did a lot of overtime it was duly noted the more I made the more Feds took from my paycheck. This coupled with high health costs deducted from my check, amounted to my working more hours for theoretically less money per hour. When you get bumped into a new tax bracket, what's the use of working the overtime? That's one of the big problems I had with Kirkland & Ellis LLP management's demands I had no choice but to accept any overtime requested of me. This was particularly painful considering my shift ended at 11:30 p.m. Overtime sometimes meant working into the early morning hours. It not only exhausted me, but made me resentful. I wanted to work smarter, not harder.

My other motivation for seeking alternative methods of income was I didn't agree with how the government was spending my taxes on unnecessary wars. I chose being a Notary Public because my fees are non-taxable. For each notarized signature, the money belongs to me, not the government.

I'm so glad I began my own businesses. I absolutely love deducting business expenses from my income. I'm thinking of purchasing transportation and deducting it. Under the new tax law you no longer have to amortize depreciation of capital expenses (i.e., cars, etc.). You can deduct them all in one year, but there's a limit of $250k. I'm thinking of getting one of those cute little SMART cars now and getting my company logo plastered on it. If it's all deductible, I have nothing to lose.