ATV Florida Forum

Just wondering. Under what circumstances can an ATV be tax deductible?

You mean you have the largest ATV site in Fl & you dont have the mack daddy ATV written off for promoting your site? I will be looking into a new Rhino as a write off for my new venture ;)

Im sure I could for training purposes

I would ask Sleazy_Rider78

Farm equipment!

I sold all my ATVs except one, a Honda 250 Recon. Even then, I owned them before the site took off and became popular or they weren't a candidate for what I have in mind.

But yes, that is the line of thinking I am on. Why couldn't I get an ATV, make it a rolling billboard and go for a ride at Croom (for example) on the weekends when its the most crowded and show it off. It could also be used to map areas and provide photos and video for riding areas, too. All of which give the site some new, fresh content. It gives the users of the site something interesting to read and makes the site more valuable and more attractive to advertisers. I can't do any of that without an ATV. And no one gets excited about a beat up old 2002 Honda Recon.

Oh, and I haven't pursued this in the past because I always thought the line between personal use and business use was a little blurred and it seemed like more trouble than it was worth. But now it makes sense. I really have no other intent than to promote the site or to add value to it in some way. And I have no where to use it except at legal riding spots that I help promote.

JUST DO IT!  Those scumbergs at AIG get millions you think anyone's going to look at a 10k business write off your using for advertising to promote your site. If you buy it with the biz (LLC- S-corp etc...) and register it in its name than I think your fine.

Now the question is what are you buying?  Honda, Yamaha, Polaris, etc.etc.

While the purchase price is deductible as a write-off against your taxes for that fiscal year, you obviously have to be 'making money' in order to be paying taxes.

I would think your 'rolling billboard' idea would cement the validity of the equipment.  It would only be a matter of what percentage of the purchase could be written off.

I am not really involved with taxes too much, but I think you would have to get a little creative in order to write something like that off.  Writing off a $7,000 ATV as advertising expense could raise some eyebrows.  However, I would think that if you purchased the ATV as a piece of equipment used for business purposes and initially capitalized it (recorded it as an asset of the business) you could depreciate it over its useful life (I think 5 years would be appropriate).  By depreciating it you are effectively writing it off over a period of 5 years (through depreciation expense).  This will then reduce your income before taxes and ultimately your income tax expense.  Off the top of my head I think there are some depreciation methods you could use for tax purposes that would accelerate the depreciation period thus writing it off in a shorter period of time. 

It wouldn't be solely an advertising expense. I would also use it to give reviews and reports on riding areas. Also to take videos of areas, too. I was thinking more around $2500. I don't have the credit for a $7000 to $10000 purchase and I never buy anything new.

Oh, and I could do all that on foot. But it would take a really long time.

Sleazy's on the right track.  You could capitalize the purchase and depreciate the purchase price from 3 - 5 years for that class of equipment.  You actually get an additional avenue for write-off and that is your expenses on these advertising forays, including food, mileage for your transport, lodging, maintenance and repairs.  Now, I will say that this type of deduction is tip-toeing the line but if you keep accurate, detailed logs of your expenses, miles, maintenance fees and hours/miles of use (a secret here is to make sure you log some recreational time as well), you could pull it off if (more probably when) you get audited.  These types of deductions (vehicle, home office, etc) are known as red flags that the IRS looks for.  I've been through an audit before and besides being a huge pain in the ass, if your documentation is in line, you don't have much to worry about.  Just my $0.02.


P.S.  I'm not an accountant but I did sleep in a cheap motel last night!!   8)

Diggin is absolutely right about saving your documentation.  As long as you have all the supporting invoices and receipts showing proof of payment, and its a legitimate business expense they cannot argue or challenge it. 

Yeah, it all sounds good. I haven't decided what to do. You'd think after running this site for over 6 years I'd have a friend somewhere at a dealer or shop that could get me a deal on an ATV. But I don't so I might just sit tight.

You could negotiate some free advertising on the website in exchange for a deal on an ATV. 

Bones,

I bought (2) BRAND NEW Raptors last year.  I did hours and hours of research and calling all over the SouthEast to find the best deal.  With that said, ARS Powersports in Okeechobee beat ALL the other prices I could find and I didn't even tell them what prices I had received quotes for.

My point?  If you want good pricing, these guys may have it.  Also, you could save some $$ too by asking dealers what they have leftover in 2007 or 2008 models.  I could have bought a Brand New 2007 Raptor 700 for $4499 a few weeks ago (it orginally retailed for $7000) and it was still in the crate at the dealers.