Claiming a phone as expense

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 1, 2019
1 reply
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Can I deduct the entire phone bill or just a portion of it. I am required to have it for work and the only place that has the number is my work.

TurboTax Deluxe Online

Best answer by

If you use the phone exclusively for work, then you can take a deduction for the entire amount. If your use of the phone is also personal, then you'll need to allocate business and personal use percentages and then take a deduction for the business use amount (calculate one total figure for the year). You won't be able to deduct any portion that you were reimbursed for.

If you're a W-2 employee, then you'll enter the business amount by selecting Federal Taxes, then Deductions and Credits, then scroll down to Employment Expenses, and select Job Expenses for W-2 Income.

Follow the prompts and TurboTax will ask you questions about various types of expenses. You'll continue past a screen for "Any Other Expenses" and you'll arrive at the input screen for Job-Related Expenses, where you'll write in your phone and the business use amount.

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Anonymous

Answer

If you use the phone exclusively for work, then you can take a deduction for the entire amount. If your use of the phone is also personal, then you'll need to allocate business and personal use percentages and then take a deduction for the business use amount (calculate one total figure for the year). You won't be able to deduct any portion that you were reimbursed for.

If you're a W-2 employee, then you'll enter the business amount by selecting Federal Taxes, then Deductions and Credits, then scroll down to Employment Expenses, and select Job Expenses for W-2 Income.

Follow the prompts and TurboTax will ask you questions about various types of expenses. You'll continue past a screen for "Any Other Expenses" and you'll arrive at the input screen for Job-Related Expenses, where you'll write in your phone and the business use amount.