Keyboards as tax write-offs

[noisyturtle]

Has anyone ever filed a keyboard as a work purchase? Suppose you only use it at the office, I mean there doesn't seem to be any reason why not.

[ygor]

Mmm... Tasty assets. 

[happylacquer]

Has anyone ever filed a keyboard as a work purchase? Suppose you only use it at the office, I mean there doesn't seem to be any reason why not.

If you get your boss to buy it for you?

[OfTheWild]

well if you get someone else to pay for it then you cant write it off come tax time. But I suppose if you could justify that it was a required personal expense for work you could write it off. I doubt you'd get away with it if for some reason you got audited. You'd be better off just saying you "donated" to a church.

[happylacquer]

well if you get someone else to pay for it then you cant write it off come tax time. But I suppose if you could justify that it was a required personal expense for work you could write it off. I doubt you'd get away with it if for some reason you got audited. You'd be better off just saying you "donated" to a church.

I should have said, my point was if you get the board for free you don't need to write anything off that shouldn't be written off in the first place 

I mean do you really potentially want the IRS on your ass over a keyboard?

[digi]

Gotta love Turbo Tax, thank you government for paying for my LZ CLS 

[ygor]

If you're self-employed and need a keyboard to do business, I do not see why you couldn't write it off. Am I wrong?

[dubious]

well if you get someone else to pay for it then you cant write it off come tax time. But I suppose if you could justify that it was a required personal expense for work you could write it off. I doubt you'd get away with it if for some reason you got audited. You'd be better off just saying you "donated" to a church.

I should have said, my point was if you get the board for free you don't need to write anything off that shouldn't be written off in the first place 

I mean do you really potentially want the IRS on your ass over a keyboard?

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/deducting-computers-bought-work.html

You can legally write these off, and I don't think the IRS gives a **** about your $200 purchase

[phoible]

Whenever I've been self-employed, I've deducted pretty much every piece of computer hardware I bought that I used for work (computers, monitors, etc..). You need to deduct it from income earned from self-employment, but other than that, there shouldn't be a problem.

[cribbit]

My workplace just lets me expense all my keyboards.

[Puddsy]

I was gonna say, you might be able to expense it.

[happylacquer]

That's really what I meant by getting it for free. Well, if you get to keep it, it is.

[mrvco]

If you're itemizing your deductions and it is used for work, then yes, the IRS won't bat an eye (unless you list your profession as 'Luddite' maybe).  There are quite a few things that you can write-off that you might not expect (especially if you have a home office), the one that surprised me when I was self-employed and working from my home office was 'home exercise equipment'.

If you expense it through your employer, then they own it.

[Polymer]

You most definitely can write it off..especially if you can show you use it at the office...I'm not sure what would happen if you tried writing off 10 keyboards though . 

[opensecret]

As other posts suggest, it makes a difference whether you’re salaried or self-employed.  If you’re self-employed and filing a Schedule C, most business expenses, including office equipment, are fully deductible.  If you’re an employee, it’s not so simple.   You can only claim that keyboard if you itemize deductions, and you can only deduct the portion of your work-related expenses that exceeds 2% of your AGI (adjusted gross income).   So if your AGI is, say, $50,000, you can’t deduct your first $1,000 of employee expenses.   

Basically, this means that if you’re self-employed, which could be a business on the side in addition to your day job, you’re good to go.  If you’re a working stiff, you’re probably out of luck.