Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/620616
Family Owned | Experienced | Reliable | Team Midwestern | MC-186420 THE RIGHT WAY TO SHIP Certified Transportation Broker 800-505-9754 EXT. 3 DAVE TAYLOR CTB www.midwesterntransit.com sales@midwesterntransit.com MID-SIZE BROKER WITH MID-SIZE CORE TRUCK AND RAIL CAPACITY • Owner is TIA and TCA Board Member • Work from Anywhere Via PC, IPAD, or Smartphone • Account Receivable Bad Debt Protection • ITS and TIA $100,000 Bond • 21 Day Carrier Pay • Quick Pay, Advances, Terminal Pay • Unsaturated Agent Territories Available TRANSPARENT AND EXCEPTIONAL BACK OFFICE SUPPORT • Owner is Agent Liaison • Tiered Commissions Based on Sales and Margin • Multimodal Capacity of TL, LTL, and Piggyback • 25,000 Contracted Carriers • Exceptional TMS Software, Free Integrated Load Boards, DAT, Truckstop.com, GETLOADED • Once Agents Try MTSI They Stay With MTSI L ARGE ENOUGH TO SERVE YOU - SMALL ENOUGH TO BE FAMILY SUPPORT + RESOURCES = COMPLETE SUCCESS = THE RIGHT WAY TO SHIP!! 4. WHAT EXPENSE RECORDS DO I NEED EACH YEAR? 3. WHAT IF I ALREADY OWE THE IRS? 2. WHAT EXPENSES CAN I WRITE OFF? 1. WHAT IF I GET AUDITED? Below, I want to touch on each of these briey. Not so much to provide specic guid- ance for your particular situation, but to give you a measure of hope that the playing eld between you and the IRS may be a lot more level than you originally thought! So let's jump in, starting with the fourth most frequent question: 4. What records do I need to keep? As you might imagine, the IRS wants you to maintain records for the deductions you are claiming on your tax returns, especially business deductions. Certainly a reasonable request. And if you review virtually any IRS Publication or set of instructions, it will tell you exactly what is "required" in order to take any given deduction. But let me ask you a question: What if your expense records were destroyed in a re? Or destroyed or disposed of by a disgruntled spouse or signicant other? Or what if, for example, you had been one of several thousand owner-operators living in or around New Orleans, LA, during the last week of August, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina wiped out over a half million homes and businesses, including those of professional drivers and other transportation and logistics professionals? Fortunately, there is a little-known law that allows for the estimation of expenses or re- construction of records using the best method available, if the actual records are missing. is special rule of law is known as the "Cohen Rule" aptly named aer an audit case involving none other than famed entertainer and song-writer, George M. Cohen. It seems that Mr. Cohen's income tax returns were audited in the 1940s for a year during which he had traveled with his show for more than 30 weeks during the year. Unfortunately, Mr. Cohen had not maintained records to back up the expenses he claimed on his tax return. So the IRS examiner disallowed most of his business expenses out of hand. Vo l . 1 0 , N o . 1 TRUCKSTOP.COM 17