That seems to have gotten your attention.
I wanted to post a bit about the end of the year salaries, but our buddy CK has a far better slant on it than I was planning.
And my usual rant about system abusers seems like an echo in the great conversation going on over at Ambulance Driver’s place.
And with the usual end of the year stuff approaching, I want to gather my thoughts about my resolutions, as well as looking back and seeing how I did on last year’s. Since the end of the year means getting ready for the tax man I thought I’d pass along a few of the unknown LEGAL deductions you should ask your tax preparer about. I understand many of you are grumbling, and then some, about the perceived increases under the new guy, but alas, not this year, or next so far.
This is not meant to be official tax advice, hence asking your tax preparer, and if you are taking real tax advice from a fireman’s blog, God help us all.
For example:
If your service requires you to maintain your hair a certain style, 4 haircuts a year are deductions.
If your service sends you from your regular station to another one for the day, the mileage between them one way is a deduction.
If your uniforms are required to be clean, your dry cleaning is deductible.
If you are not reimbursed for meals, nor given time off to eat them, a portion of your meals, or a portion of a pre-determined meal rate for your area is deductible.
Those texts you bought to improve your patient care, yup.
That trip you took to Boca Raton to grab an application and scout out the system. uh-huh. But just you, not the wife.
Your refresher, sure.
That new helmet, yes.
The case of scotch to the Captain over at station assignments…not anymore.
Part of your cell phone bill if you use it for work (Medical Examiner, Medical Control), yes.
Mileage driven to and from the station from home, no, unless you meet some really strict rules.
Bridge tolls to and from work, no.
New work T-shirts, yes, if required as part of your uniform.
Laundering said T-shirts, depends.
Union dues, deductible.
Subscription fees to JEMS Magazine, yes.
Receipt from your firegeezer.com mug. I’ll have to re-read the section under “Mandatory work equipment.”
That’s just a quick list. Please be sure to ask about the situation in your service. Fire folks fall under a special exemption from many of the standard working, salary and tax rules, so read carefully and, if in doubt, pay someone who knows about your profession. In the end, if you plan it right, you can write off a trip somewhere nice for your mandatory refresher training. But just you, not the wife and in-laws.
I’ll be back in a few days with a year end round up that should bore your socks right off, then we’ll pick up where Mark leaves off when I start my day by day retelling of the England half of the Project.
Mkai?
Also on The Happy Medic…
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