On Wednesday, 6 March 2002 19:59:18 UTC+2, RMartino wrote:
Although fairly new to woodworking I have been turning out some fine
birdhouses, andirondack chairs, and bookcases and have made several of each
that I have sold to friends and acquaintances. I have the thought (may not be
a cerebral one) that I should declare this a home business to at least write
off some of my tool expenses. Any thoughts, pitfalls, IRS implications?

Regards,

Bob

Bob, and everyone else considering starting a business out of a hobby at home, you must take into consideration that the IRS takes business vs hobby very seriously, as the others pointed out as well. In order to understand what "tests" the IRS performs to differentiate a business from a hobby this article will come in handy: http://www.prestinaegele.com/busines...ers-to-the-irs
When it comes to claiming business home deductions, you might consider the new safe harbor method the IRS introduced. Of course, this is not effective for 2012 tax year returns being filed during the current 2013 filing season, but everyone can take it into consideration when tax planning this year. There are some rules and limitations to this method, this article explains it pretty well: http://www.prestinaegele.com/irs-int...fice-deduction
Hope this helps and best of luck with your businesses everyone!
Andrew Wayne

On Fri, 22 Feb 2013 02:32:14 -0800 (PST), Andrew Wayne
wrote:

On Wednesday, 6 March 2002 19:59:18 UTC+2, RMartino wrote:
Although fairly new to woodworking I have been turning out some fine
birdhouses, andirondack chairs, and bookcases and have made several of each
that I have sold to friends and acquaintances. I have the thought (may not be
a cerebral one) that I should declare this a home business to at least write
off some of my tool expenses. Any thoughts, pitfalls, IRS implications?

Regards,

Bob

Bob, and everyone else considering starting a business out of a hobby at home, you must take into consideration that the IRS takes business vs hobby very seriously, as the others pointed out as well. In order to understand what "tests" the IRS performs to differentiate a business from a hobby this article will come in handy: http://www.prestinaegele.com/busines...ers-to-the-irs
When it comes to claiming business home deductions, you might consider the new safe harbor method the IRS introduced. Of course, this is not effective for 2012 tax year returns being filed during the current 2013 filing season, but everyone can take it into consideration when tax planning this year. There are some rules and limitations to this method, this article explains it pretty well: http://www.prestinaegele.com/irs-int...fice-deduction
Hope this helps and best of luck with your businesses everyone!
Andrew Wayne

Once the tax thing is determined, stop and think about what you really
want to do. Many a fun hobby has been turned into another job when
money comes into play.

As a hobby, you make what you want when you want. It is fun, relaxing
and hey, maybe you can even make a few bucks. Then someone want six
Adirondack chars and they want them for a family picnic in two weeks.
You take the job and a week and three chars later, the wife says,
let's visit my relative at their beachfront home. You say "I have to
finish these $%*& chairs" Not fun any more.

Me, I'd made stuff for friends, but never took a penny for my labor.
Only twice did I take money for material because it was rather pricey
and made at their request.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:

Once the tax thing is determined, stop and think about what you really
want to do. Many a fun hobby has been turned into another job when
money comes into play.

As a hobby, you make what you want when you want. It is fun, relaxing
and hey, maybe you can even make a few bucks. Then someone want six
Adirondack chars and they want them for a family picnic in two weeks.
You take the job and a week and three chars later, the wife says,
let's visit my relative at their beachfront home. You say "I have to
finish these $%*& chairs" Not fun any more.

Me, I'd made stuff for friends, but never took a penny for my labor.
Only twice did I take money for material because it was rather pricey
and made at their request.

Yep. Fellow I worked with made trophies (bowling, golf, etc.) as a
hobby/business. He got a contract with Wards for THREE THOUSAND "World's
Best Dad" trophies for a father's day promotion.

He said he was so goddamn tired of woodworking, he'd never touch another
piece!

Hope this helps and best of luck with your businesses everyone!

Andrew Wayne


Uhhh since this thread is more than 10 years old, I doubt you have added much value to the conversation. Perhaps you would want to comment on that recent thread about the introduction of electric lighting.

On 2/22/2013 1:27 PM, SonomaProducts.com wrote:

Hope this helps and best of luck with your businesses everyone!

Andrew Wayne


Uhhh since this thread is more than 10 years old, I doubt you have added much value to the conversation. Perhaps you would want to comment on that recent thread about the introduction of electric lighting.

When I first discovered newsgroups (through CompuServe, I believe, circa
1995), I did the same thing once or twice, and couldn't figure why my
comments weren't interesting enough to receive a reply.

When I first discovered newsgroups (through CompuServe, I believe, circa

1995), I did the same thing once or twice, and couldn't figure why my

comments weren't interesting enough to receive a reply.

Yeah, I have done it too. I was just feeling kind of dickish so why not kick them when they are down... Have a nice day.