[Leica] TAX question: Should I buy an M10?

[Don Dory]

G'day Kyle,  I am not a tax professional nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn
Express last night.  With that said, it would depend on how you file as a
professinal.  Mentioning form C tells me you are probably a sole
proprieter.  So, bring as many business expenses into tax year 2017 as
possible while pushing income into next year.  Built in assumptions are
that your taxable income is under the $450,000 range as a legally single
filerk about double that if married.  Also assuming you are not filing in a
pass through corporation basis you will be buying a piece of business
equipment with an arguable 3 year depreciation schedule: as a professional
photographer your gear gets destroyed pretty quickly.

If your taxable status is as a partnership or a pass through then the rules
become very complex with arcane formulas that almost no one fully
understands.

As to a small portable Leica I would suggest the "Q".  Interestingly enough
a street photographer in Atlanta has been doing fabulous work with the Q
and he goes by Q on Instagram.


On Dec 27, 2017 12:09 PM, "kyle cassidy on the lug" <leicaslacker at gmail.com>
wrote:

Hi folks —

I’m probably not alone in not understanding the implications of the new tax
bill.

I wasn’t planning on buying an M10 this year, but possibly sometime in the
coming year, maybe who knows, I’m doing ok with my M240’s. I had a book do
well and as a result I’ve a fat chunk of change sitting in the bank but I’m
concerned by all the armchair tax advisors on Facebook saying that small
business deductions are going away after this year.

I file a 1040 as well as a schedule C.

The Washington Post’s article “5 things to do before Jan 1 to lower your
tax bill” advised professionals to buy all their high end purchases now.
But I’m not sure if they’re talking about Schedule A or Schedule C.

Does anybody with actual understanding of this know if I’ll still be able
to deduct equipment expenses that I make next year, or should I blow
through all this money on gear I’ll need for the future this year?

That said, replace the Dlux-4 with a type 109? yes? or don’t bother?

thanks for your time & expertise —

Kyle



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