My DH is doing our taxes. He is freaking out about deducting the mileage to the OSSAS. I say it's good since I attended class for 2 whole days while I was there, so that's business related education. The fact that I drove 11 hours to get that class shouldn't matter, right? What say the rest of you? I can see not declaring it if I only attended for the purpose of competing (although an argument could be made for that being legit, too). But I attended a 2 day class by a known sugar artist and learned specific business related techniques....so it should count, right? Yes? or no?

Yes, but you should have kept some kind of record... My Bro in law has a tax business, and hubby travels for work. He keeps track of mileage in a little book in his car... I really think that counts...
PS... April 15 is my b-day, I don't want it to come either I'm 26 this year and have yet to finish college... I've been to busy having lots of kids

I'm not a tax expert by any means, but you can definitely claim certain things for business expenses - I'm not sure about the milage. Class fees, hotel costs, etc, you can, but I think the mileage is a stretch. Most tax sites have breakdowns on what you can and can't claim, so you may want to check those out. I use turbotax.com for our taxes, and they have great tutorials on all sorts of different things.

I am by no means a tax expert, but I did hear on the news that this year the IRS is cracking down on mileage and charitable contributions .... it would be better if you start keeping track of mileage, maybe for the next year?

I do know you can claim mileage. My mom's accountant told me to keep track of it, that it was a big one for small business owners. I don't have an accountant. They cost too much. DH is just freaking out because the mileage to OK is 750 miles.....which doubles my mileage claim. He's afraid it'll be a red flag for the IRS.

I was hoping that since so many of us have been to OSSAS, that maybe some of us have dealt with this issue before?

YIKES, don't trust our word!!! LOL! No, my husband is a financial planner, he just wrote off several of my cake class trips as business expenses including flights, meals and whatever else he can

I am by no means a certified accountant or legal tax consultant, so what you actually report is up to you and have no guarantees that it will not raise questions. I am also only hobby for decorator so this does not get reported on my taxes as I have no income from it. However, I do receive training and travel quite a bit for my "real" profession and yes, the time it takes you to drive to a training session or work related destination you can report. You cannot claim the time and mileage together....just one or the other. It sounds as though this trip involved a formal training so yes, you should be able to report it.

Also, it will need to be the mileage from the place of business location not from your home to the actual training destination!!! Your home to place of business commute is not a part of that mileage and is not considered deductible!!! If you work in your home, I am not sure how that works.

Hope this helps to guide you.....like I said though you might want to double check with a tax professional though.

I do know you can claim mileage. My mom's accountant told me to keep track of it, that it was a big one for small business owners. I don't have an accountant. They cost too much. DH is just freaking out because the mileage to OK is 750 miles.....which doubles my mileage claim. He's afraid it'll be a red flag for the IRS.

I was hoping that since so many of us have been to OSSAS, that maybe some of us have dealt with this issue before?

its business related, so report it! if you get audited, so what? as long as you have careful records you'll be fine. if they question your mileage, show them the class receipts and class info for OSSAS. that should be enough. being a new business is a red flag anyway, especially if you report a significant loss (not uncommon in the early years of a business). i took a gumpaste flowers class a few weeks ago, and it was an hour and a half drive. not as much as going to oklahoma, but still i went back and forth each day. it added probably about 5-600 miles, and i'm not going to hesitate to claim it for next year. when i did my taxes this year (through HR block) the guy asked about mileage, and i told him 1200. his reaction was "thats it?". i think they expect quite a lot of mileage from businesses, especially ones that deliver!!

All you have to do is call HR Block and they will answer the question for you. I called them alot before I got our accountant and they were always very helpful.
Faye

We have a friend who's an accountant and does out taxes because of the business. She is awesome! Last year DH was commuting 200+ miles every day to and from work. You bet your buttons we wrote it off! She said it's not a HUGE tax break....but every little bit helps right? She's told me to keep track of ALL business mileage. Even just running to the store for eggs or whatever. It all adds up.

I think that if you have all documentation saying you were attending something for the business, then you can write off the mileage. It's not like you're trying to write off a trip to Mexico.