Writing off gear?
 

Carlo Coggi wrote:

I am an advanced amateur photographer and will be taking an 'extreme
adventure' vacation this summer. A friend of a friend is editor of a
well-known travel magazine who heard about my somewhat unique vacation
and said that the magazine would be interested in seeing a spec
article/photos about the trip.

Business/Tax Question:

Two months ago I sold my Canon 10D and bought a 30D and some related
camera gear. If my photos and text are accepted for publication, can I
then form a sole proprietorship or corporation and *retroactively*
write-off the cost of my gear and trip?

I write off 50% of my auto expenses, phone, internet, computer & camera
gear as business expense but I'm almost entirely self employed. The
better practice is to depreciate the equiptment so you write off some
percent each year based on the expected decrease in resale value as it
ages. But my numbers aren't that big so I don't worry too much. My tax
guy is OK with this. I think you'd need to show more than one assignment
to justify the creation of a business... like a web site selling photos
& a resume & all that. You don't need to incorporate, sole proprieter is
fine.