<div> I would think most full time Cauts would tune at least a few pianos<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> on the side, which would then qualify for deductions on a scheduled C.  They could even take a business loss (deducting more expense than income) if they wanted for two consecutive years (the third year loss causes the IRS to call it a "hobby", not a business.  I once took a business loss on a band I played in -  Deducted equipment purchases against a pitiful income!  Bob.  </font><br> </div> <div>  <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"></font><br> </div> <div> <br> </div> -----Original Message-----<br> From: Jeff Tanner <jtanner@mozart.sc.edu><br> To: College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org><br> Sent: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 3:47 pm<br> Subject: Re: [CAUT] PTG Dues<br> <br> <div id="AOLMsgPart_2_fbab88b5-f9e2-49d8-af7a-6a5cae874206"> <br> <div> <div>On Jan 7, 2008, at 1:08 PM, Willem Blees wrote:</div> <br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div>Jeff<br> <br> IF your only source of income is working for someone else, and you are required by your employer to belong to a trade organization, and/or your employer requires you to purchase your own tools to do your work, then they are deductible.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br> </div> </span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></blockquote></div> <br> <div>That would make sense, and if you spend enough, that is true.  But they are not deductible until the total reaches a certain dollar amount, which to my best recollection was some percentage breakpoint of your overall income.  Same basis as deducting health care expenses.  I found this out several years ago before I started doing outside work.  At the time, it was something like $1800 minimum before it became deductible.  The next year I bought my SAT III, and I had enough with that, dues and other tools to qualify for a deduction.  But only after I started doing supplementary work that went on a Schedule C would my accountant allow me to deduct tools or PTG dues under whatever that breakpoint was/is.</div> <div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div> <div>Jeff</div> <br> <br> <div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div>Jeff Tanner, RPT</div> <div>University of South Carolina</div> <div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div> <br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span> </div> <br> = </div>  <div class="AOLPromoFooter"> <hr style="margin-top:10px;" /> More new features than ever. Check out the new <a href="http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?ncid=aolcmp00050000000003" target="_blank">AOL Mail</a>!<br/> </div>