With tax season here, my mind is wandering a little on how I can justify writing off my financially obsessive sport of hunting.
If it were determined to be medically necessary would that pass the IRS?

Rehab, the african trip was for rehab ! We can get a wicth doctor to sign you a letter you were cured for the next couple of months untill your next trip.

Treatment can only happen and are only effective when mixed with African air, and gunpowder and the occasional Castle beer. This is not to be found anywhere else in the world.

Perhaps a note to Senator Grassley, head of the Finance Committee, to ask for tax relief?

You'll recall that two years ago he trashed hunters "donating" trophies to museums in exchange for huge tax write-offs.

Regards

Are you in business for yourself? A trade show or convention could be combined with a hunting trip.There's always a show somewhere. Looking over potential real-estate for possible investment is a valid business practice and expense. Of course it would help if you have investment property now.Send a couple days touring hunting properties, but don't forget your rifle. Market research is important.
These might get your air-fare wrote off.

Hire an accountant with the same hunting habit and ask for the same deal he have himself.

It might not be impossible.....

If you own a largeish piece of land, you might need to go on a training course that'll teach you how to manage the wildife on it.

If you work in a timber related business, you might need to learn more about African woods and their uses.

If you work in the medical field, you might need to study the diseases of Africa and their implications or maybe just want to do some charitable work.

The list goes on an on, all you have to do is figure out a way to make it work.........

My accountant taught me looong ago that there's always a way to claim tax relief....... For example, I've never bought a dishwasher...... maybe a few de-greasers over the years, but never a dishwasher!

Just bear in mind that the difference between tax planning and tax evasion is sometimes measured in years.

Dog,
I thought that's what Canada was for...evasion!

Writing off hunting trips is why one sees so many videos for sale these days.

Yeppers, larryshores is going in the right direction. May also want to become an outfitter/booking agent, etc. Always need to see your clients future hunting area first hand.

Unless it is part of your sole source of income, good luck. The IRS closed the loophole of donating the trophies to a museum or charitable foundation and including the cost of the trip in the "valuation" of the mount.

As they say - death and taxes are all that truly get you in the end.

My son and I bought a video editing and production set up and got a business license back in the late 1990's as Play-More Productions, PMP for short. We made videos of all our hunting and fishing trips, edited and titled with music and narration. We sold a few tapes and were a legitimate business. We also sold a bit of "stock" footage to companies producing commercials.

We lost a lot of money, paying for all those video expeditions, and closed down after three years.

quote:

Originally posted by luv2safari:
My son and I bought a video editing and production set up and got a business license back in the late 1990's as Play-More Productions, PMP for short. We made videos of all our hunting and fishing trips, edited and titled with music and narration. We sold a few tapes and were a legitimate business. We also sold a bit of "stock" footage to companies producing commercials.

We lost a lot of money, paying for all those video expeditions, and closed down after three years.

If you had another source of Income I believe the IRS will call that a Hobby and will disallow the write offs. I know a guy in Fl that did the same thing as a fishing guide. He kept a full time job and fished for the first two years when he could, he finally made it and quite his full time job. He was later audited and owed tax for the first two years. IRS considered a Hobby for the first two years eventhough he finally mad a career of it.

But remember you can write anything off until you get Audited.

This advice is worth what you are paying for it, but if it's a proper business venture -- incorporate, carry insurance, file tax returns, etc, you should be able to defeat the "hobby" status pretty easily.

quote:

Originally posted by bluefin:
With tax season here, my mind is wandering a little on how I can justify writing off my financially obsessive sport of hunting.
If it were determined to be medically necessary would that pass the IRS?

In LE it was always possible to arrange a meeting with other agencies explaining some of the latest techniques in use in your own dept so one could write off part or all of the trip.

quote:

Originally posted by muygrande:
Yeppers, larryshores is going in the right direction. May also want to become an outfitter/booking agent, etc. Always need to see your clients future hunting area first hand.

I've often thought about becoming the world's least successful booking agent/consultant. Could make trips tax deductible, but not have to deal with clients. Maybe even get more deductions from business losses?

Fellows, trust me I know this one. The IRS has very specific rules for hobby losses. If you show a profit for 3 of the last 5 years, the activity will not be deemed to be a hobby. Incorporating, filings a return, buying insurance won't help you. If you are employed full time by some other business and you attempt to structure something to generate a loss from the trips, you are almost certainly going to lose.

It is completely different is this is your sole business and it operates like a business. For example, it has an office and you are there on a full time basis. You have employees, you actively work and have a reasonable expectation of making a profit based upon a business plan, you may incur a loss and get to deduct it provided you are "at risk".

Of course, the reality of dealing with the IRS is that right and wrong have little to do with it. It is the agent you get and what kind of mood they are in that particular day.

I wise man once said there is no such thing as a tax issue until the IRS shows up.

Build a large trophy room, call it a Natural History Museum, register it as a non profit org. Make it free to the public, no admission fee and then write off the cost of hunts to fill it with mounts.

Oh, and hire a good AR taxidermist to do your work.

quote:

Originally posted by tradewinds:
If you had another source of Income I believe the IRS will call that a Hobby and will disallow the write offs.

I am NOT a tax man (and don't play one in the movies) but that reasoning falls short. Lots of guys have multiple businesses and the IRS doesn't automatically audit or deny them write offs for having other income. You are not targeted for being resourceful (I cringe to phrase it as such) enough to maintain multiple businesses.

I refer you to the guru on all things, Kramer on Seinfeld who said everyone is writing things off. Jerry says you don't even know what a write off is. Kramer replies, "But they do and they are the ones writing it off." Makes perfect sense.

I know a farmer in Wisconsin that makes a cattle buying trip to Montana each year.......and of course while he's there he chases an Elk around the mountains!

quote:

Originally posted by bluefin:
Dog,
I thought that's what Canada was for...evasion!

Well, it was a popular destination for draft dodgers and hippies. Want 'em back?

Listen to Larry and get competant tax legal advice. The IRS does not have a sense of humor about this. The fact that everyone "know" someone who has written off outrageous stuff just means that they have been lucky enough not to be audited yet.

(I used to be the president of TurboTax and have seen some ugly examples)

Came up with an idea.

See what ya'll think:
I'll enroll at the local junior college and take an 'ethnic studies' course. As part of my research I go to Africa and use that to write my term paper.
Bingo! Write off!!

Probably not.

I have just completed 667 tax returns and I am tired. I will post some strategies after I get back from Botswana and Zimbabwe. I will be in Africa all of May.



You can borrow money, but you can't borrow time. Go now.

Ahh...so says the tax man as he is going out the door to Africa! Enjoy your trip. I notice you did one more return so you didn't have 666 returns.

Ask Mark Young!

I work full time and also own a military jewelry company without a store front. My CPA has written off travel expenses to visit suppliers in Asia.

I wonder what the wholesale market in Namibia or Tanzania is like?

I'm curious . . .

Who buys stock footage? I have been filming and editing my husband's hunting safaris and I have quite a bit of footage where nothing is dying that I'd like to do something with. I created a DVD (I guess I have to make the move to Blu-Ray soon) and I've uploaded some of the kill shots to our web site for free viewing. But I am notorious for filming scenery and everything else I see. On the last hunt the PH jumped out of the vehicle and I was hot on his heels with the camera rolling. He said he had to relieve himself and asked was I actually going to document that. Well, I told him, I am here to see the sights. Then, I scrambled back into the vehicle. Anyway, I have quite a bit of footage that is not hunting related that I'd like to do something with.


Is there a particular company more open than others?

quote:

Originally posted by luv2safari:
My son and I bought a video editing and production set up and got a business license back in the late 1990's as Play-More Productions, PMP for short. We made videos of all our hunting and fishing trips, edited and titled with music and narration. We sold a few tapes and were a legitimate business. We also sold a bit of "stock" footage to companies producing commercials.

We lost a lot of money, paying for all those video expeditions, and closed down after three years.

I'm closing in on retirement so talk right and I'll put you in a good taxidermy business! Game reference and collection is a ligit part of the business and of course the mounting and display is too!


Happy April 15th! (TAX day USA)
Mike O