Cell Phone Deduction

[Chris229]

How do I calculate a percentage of my cell phone bill for deduction on my gig work Independent Contractor?

[Opus 17]

We can't tell you that.  If you use the same phone for business and personal use, you must have some reasonable method of determining the business use expense, and you must be able to show this to the IRS if audited (it must be on paper or at least able to be printed).

You might use number of personal or business calls, or you might use minutes used for each task, or you might count text messages or determine the data use from your detailed cell phone bill.

[shirleyh88]

Hello Chris229!

Thank you for your question.  Being self-employed means you are able to deduct your business expenses on your tax return.  One of those expenses include cellphone use.  If you use your cellphone for both business and personal purposes, you can claim the business use of your cellphone as a tax deduction. For example, 20% of your cellphone usage is for business, then you could legitimately deduct 20% of your phone bill as a business expense. Please keep in mind that only the business portion of your cellphone expenses is deductible and your personal expenses related to your phone are not deductible on your tax return. 

Please refer to the article below regarding whether cellphone expenses are tax deductible if you are self-employed:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/small-business-taxes/can-cellphone-expenses-be-tax-deductible-w... 

Please let me know if this answers your questions, or if I can be of further assistance.

Thank you!

Shirleyh88