Can my Business deduct my Home office & personal vehicle? (Intro to Accountable Plans)

Home office & personal vehicle as an S-Corp business deduction?

This answer is no, S-Corps are not allowed to pay for assets that are not titled in the business name... 
This answer can turn into a YES if you use an Accountable Plan! 

How Accountable Plans work ---when you use your personal funds to pay for things that you want your business to deduct:

you submit expenses to us each quarter > we process your info and run some depreciation, mileage and other calculations > then we give you an exact amount that your business must reimburse to you. Once you transfer this amount to your personal account, that amount becomes a business tax deduction! 

NOTE : after you complete the transfer, you may always put that money back into your business. There is no need to keep that cash out of your business...

Now If you don’t want to deduct your car, your home office ,your mobile phone, or any other personal items not owned by the S-Corp, then you do not need an accountable plan. But….when you establish a home office by using an accountable plan, while by itself that may not be a large deduction, it opens up so many other tax deductions.

For example, the mileage deduction.  If we establish your Home Office, then we legitimize mileage deductions for trips from your Home office to an outside office, or to a customer’s office, for realtors showing property and so on; otherwise its  just a commute to work. 

There are 3 simple Rules for turning these personal expenses into business tax deductions thru  accountable plans

1. (kind of obvious) we must be able to say that the expense was for a business purpose, in connection with the performance of your job.
   
   
2. you must saves your receipts.  For mileage you must have a mileage log - and this part is easy, use the free version of https://www.mileiq.com/ > download to your phone and just let it run in the background. You can view a report at the end of the quarter and easily track your business miles.
   Snap a photo of your Odometer on the 1st day of every quarter on Jan 1, Apr 1, Jul 1, Oct 1
   
   
3. you must reimburse yourself each quarter within 120 days. This is the most important part, the IRS wants to see the money move.

If you'd like to set up an Accountable Plan, we charge on $25/month and you will end up gaining back hundreds of dollars in tax deductions.

Receipts For Accountable Plans:
keep all of your receipts and a running list of all the things you paid for using Personal Funds, that were for Business purposes, all in one place. We'll send you a request after the end of each quarter to submit totals of all of these expenses so that we can add them to your books and turn them into tax deductions.

• save all of your receipts in a folder (paper or digital, doesnt matter, you just need to have them) marked "Accountable Plan"
• keep a running list of your expenses on paper, Google Sheets, or excel ( see sample expense calculator PDF attached to this article) to make it easy to submit your totals to us at the end of the quarter

Save receipts for 7 years, after that you can toss (or delete them)!

See also Can my Business deduct travel?
See also Can my Business deduct meals?
See also Can my Business deduct Chiropractic, Spa, or other medical expenses to keep me healthy?
See also Can my Business deduct charity/pro-bono work for which I was never paid?
See also Can S-Corp Owners' deduct medical premiums through their business?
See also Can my Business deduct charity/pro-bono work for which I was never paid?
See also Can my Business (non S-Corp) deduct my Home Office and use of my personal Vehicle?