What Tax Deductibles Are Available As An Owner Operator Truck Driver?

As an owner operator truck driver your concern is getting more income from the business. However, you won't be able to take home every pay or fees you get from the services you render. You would have to file taxes for every income you get. That's why you would have to find ways to lessen the taxes you pay. And you won't have to do it illegally. There are ways to do this. You can do this if you know what the tax deductibles are for owner operator truck drivers.

The deductibles are usually expenses that operators incur to be able to do the job and to keep the driver safe. The first deductible you should deduct from your tax is the depreciation of your truck. As you take loads from one place to the next, you use your truck so you have to take that into account too. But on the other hand, if you sell your truck, that would be counted as an income. The logic behind this is that you have already used your truck. But when you sell it you are actually getting an amount higher than it's worth.

Then, of course, you would need fuel in order to get your truck to go everywhere. This is an obvious necessary expense you would have to incur in your operations too. And then in some routes you also pay for toll fees. You should keep all receipts for these and then you can deduct these from your payable taxes. Truck parts, maintenance, repairs and showers also count as deductibles but you also need to receipts to show for them.

Meals also are deductible but receipts are no

necessary since the government allots the per diem rate for this. What you have to take note instead is the number of days the truck is on the road. Orange vests and hard hats are also deductible if the truck is destined for construction sites. Even laptops and cell phones are also included but in this case only half is deductible since these things are used not solely for the trucking purposes. Other incidentals like maps, pens and log books can be deducted too.

What you can't deduct are expenses for traffic tickets. If you hire a lawyer to settle these tickets, you can't deduct the fee you give to your attorney. You also can't deduct expenses for a stereo system for your truck.

With the deductibles subtracted, your payable tax would surely be lower. There might still be other deductibles not mentioned, but if you have someone to prepare your tax returns he or she will know them. If you are not sure about a particular deductible you would need to ask someone more knowledgeable to avoid getting a bill from the IRS later on. You should also keep all receipts in order so that you or your tax preparer won't have a hard time looking over your expenses and other deductibles later on.

About the Author: Matthew Barr is a successful webmaster of http://www.urban-neon-car-lights.com He provides more information on LED underbody kits, accessory lighting, led car lights, and led truck lights on his website.