Dear Susan: That's the way my accountant does it - Allowable deduction per mile. Dan Hallett, Jr.RPT dhalle@toolcity.net Susan Kline wrote: > > Dear David and Warren, > > Thanks for your experiences. It just reassured me that I've done the right > thing. I traded the extremely faithful but aging ('87, 163k) Toyota Tercel > 5-door hatchback in on a newer ('93, 55k) Corolla wagon! (It is beautiful!) > > I had been going to put a new engine in the Tercel, and drive it till it > dropped. I'm glad now I didn't. By the way, when I came back yesterday to > sign over the title, I watched while the salesman tried to drive Old > Faithful to a different part of the lot. It always started at a touch > (unless hot), had a quite new battery, and never had any electrical > problems EVER. After a night at the dealer's, emptied and abandoned, the > Tercel started, stalled in reverse (first time EVER), and then had a dead > battery. There's a message there somewhere, though I don't know what it is. > > No more carburation difficulties, burning oil, or dieseling (at least, I > HOPE NOT!) ... more vim on hills ... more room for stuff ... I'm planning a > framework to allow the large board I use to transport actions to become a > permanent (but removable) fitting, covering everything with dark grey > indoor-outdoor carpeting to match the interior. Tempting tools can lurk > underneath. I'll phase out the (fragile, already warped) window-blind type > cargo cover, and build another of fiberboard covered with more carpet, to > hide the rear area. I'm planning cunning storage nooks, too, so things > won't sort of drift around. > > I did depreciate the last two cars I've owned, but I have a different plan > for this one. I hope to look after it meticulously, and drive it a long, > long, long time. I think I'll get a far bigger tax advantage by not > depreciating it, and taking the standard allowance per mile. After 5 years > it would have been fully depreciated, and of no further tax use, while the > mileage allowance will just go up every year, indefinitely (and I put a lot > of miles on it.) This way, I won't have to document every little upkeep > expense, too. > > Anyone else doing it this way? Any tax hints? > > Susan > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > At 11:10 PM 5/30/98 -0700, you wrote: > >Dear David, > > > >I had a similar problem with my van, it was burning a lot of oil, and > >the plugs were fouling up and it was running rough. So, I too decided > >to rebuild the engine and run it 4-5 more years. <SAD STORY> > >Then, all of a sudden, the house was paid off along with all our other > >loans and my wife said "You need to buy a new truck or IRS is going to > >eat us alive next year!" So we went shopping like a pair of kids and > >brought home a Dodge pickup with the Cummings diesel and all of the > >goodies. > > > >When I was driving the van over to the used dealer for him to sell, it > >stopped dead in the middle of the street. <MORE SAD STORY> I went to > >Mitsubishi and they quoted $1100 just for the part. > > >I'm going to think very carefully before I rebuild anymore engines and > >for sure I'll never do anything so foolish with a Japanese vehicle. > <ME TOO!> > > >My advice, is that unless it's totally impossible, when your vehicle > >becomes un-reliable, buy a new one with a 5 year, 150,000 mile extended > >warranty or at minimum 100,000 miles, depreciate it over the same period > >and do everything you can to pay it off before the warranty expires and > >then do it all over again!!! > > > >That way you'll rarely have an un-reliable vehicle! > > > >Of course, if you are just starting in the business, lots of luck. > >Maybe your rich uncle will conveniently die and drop something on you. > >:-) > > > >sincerely, > > > >Warren > > > ------------------------------------------------------------- > >Vanderhoofven wrote: > >> > >> Last year on the way home from the National PTG Convention in Orlando, our > >> van broke a rod in the engine whe we were only about 30 miles from our > >> house. <snip> > > >> Take care of your car! Regular maintenance is important, including oil > >> changes, tune-ups, constant checking of fluid levels, tire rotation, and > >> constant replacement of worn parts including belts and hoses. > >> > >> May you have many years of driving with no problems! > >> David Vanderhoofven > > > >-- > > Susan Kline > P.O. Box 1651 > Philomath, OR 97370 > skline@proaxis.com > > "For some reason, as time passes, I'm expected to play the roles of > increasingly older people." > -- Ashleigh Brilliant
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