# New iPhone - tax deduction?



## sthriftybroke (Aug 23, 2017)

i currently have an iPhone she which is pretty small and sucks for ubering. Could I get a new iPhone (7,8,or x, idc) and write it off as a business expense? Since you HAVE to have a phone for u/l. 

Also, can you write off part of your phone bill (the data part) because of u/l?


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

sthriftybroke said:


> i currently have an iPhone she which is pretty small and sucks for ubering. Could I get a new iPhone (7,8,or x, idc) and write it off as a business expense? Since you HAVE to have a phone for u/l.
> 
> Also, can you write off part of your phone bill (the data part) because of u/l?


I think so.
Im not the tax man here.
We have one or two authorities.
I wrote off my cheap phone and the bill under supervision of a national tax preparation service.


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

sthriftybroke said:


> i currently have an iPhone she which is pretty small and sucks for ubering. Could I get a new iPhone (7,8,or x, idc) and write it off as a business expense? Since you HAVE to have a phone for u/l.
> 
> Also, can you write off part of your phone bill (the data part) because of u/l?


You can deduct the business % portion of your cell phone.


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## sthriftybroke (Aug 23, 2017)

UberTaxPro said:


> You can deduct the business % portion of your cell phone.


How would I even know how much that is?


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

sthriftybroke said:


> How would I even know how much that is?


With an unlimited plan this is really hard to disprove a general rule of thumb is 50/50 unless you have a second line you use just for your business.

With family plans it gets REALLY complicated trying to figure out. One guy i know deducts 1/6th of his family plan off his taxes. (3 people).

50/50 is what i have been deducting for years, I've been audited, and as long as i have had an unlimited plan there's nothing to prove it's more or less than 50/50.


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## bsliv (Mar 1, 2016)

I got free cell service from a place called freedompop. Very low minutes, very low text numbers and very low data usage. That serves as my 'personal' phone. My good phone and service is dedicated for business. I keep forgetting the free phone's number.


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

bsliv said:


> I got free cell service from a place called freedompop. Very low minutes, very low text numbers and very low data usage. That serves as my 'personal' phone. My good phone and service is dedicated for business. I keep forgetting the free phone's number.


I've thought about doing that with a burner phone...

But my taxes are super duper low in God's Waiting room (florida)

That and the sheer quantity of cash transactions that end up turning into bar/pizza delivery money.... yeah I'm not going to risk the IRS cracking down on me over that miniscule crap.


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

sthriftybroke said:


> How would I even know how much that is?


You would need to make a reasonable attempt to arrive at a %. How you do it is up to you, just be consistent with whatever method you use. Don't change methods from month to month or year to year. For example you could calculate the % by the hours you work. If you work 8 hours a day and your phone is available 24 hours your business % for that day would be 33% (8/24) . Some people just estimate a work/personal % like 80/20, 90/10, 50/50 etc...
Just be sure your method is reasonable and be consistent using it.


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## newdriverintown (Sep 20, 2017)

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> I've thought about doing that with a burner phone...
> 
> But my taxes are super duper low in God's Waiting room (florida)
> 
> That and the sheer quantity of cash transactions that end up turning into bar/pizza delivery money.... yeah I'm not going to risk the IRS cracking down on me over that miniscule crap.


I doubt the IRS will hunt you down.


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