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Great idea. Any hints on what a typical freelancer is forgetting to expense? $13K sounds crazy high. I'm a freelance software consultant working remotely and t

Great idea. Any hints on what a typical freelancer is forgetting to expense? $13K sounds crazy high. I'm a freelance software consultant working remotely and there isn't much I can expense as far as I know (working from home costs, hardware, software, insurance, accountancy fees, mobile bill).

warent 8y ago
Agree with this. Unless you're frequently traveling for business or making big work-related purchases, I'm finding it hard to believe that you could provide a compelling argument to the IRS that you have $13k in expenses. "Meals" is not a deductible expense, that's a personal expense and the IRS will nail you for it.
- DeusExMachina 8y ago
  I guess that depends on the country. I live in NL and (I checked with my accountant), I can deduct the cost of coffee I get at the cafe where I work, provided that I drink it while working.
  - seanwilson 8y ago
    In the UK, it's along the lines of you can only expense food and drink if it's an expense that occurs while traveling away from your normal place of work for business purposes. Without travel expenses, purchasing lots of hardware or online service costs for running a project, I'd be interested in what people are expensing if their expenses are above say £5K a year.
- novaleaf 8y ago
  actually you can deduct meals. not sure for sole-proprietorships, but corporations and llc's most certainly can. (in the USA). However in case you get audited, make sure you keep reciepts (not just record of payment) and can justify it as being a food-while-working or bizdev expense.
arbuge 8y ago
This app looks like it could get alot of people into trouble if they interpret it as giving them some kind of permission to expense all their travel, meals, etc. You're only supposed to expense the items which were actually for business purposes, and no app can figure that out for you if your record-keeping throughout the year was sloppy. I don't think it will fly when you're sitting down uncomfortably with an IRS auditor if your defense is that some app told you to do it.

warent 8y ago

Agree with this. Unless you're frequently traveling for business or making big work-related purchases, I'm finding it hard to believe that you could provide a compelling argument to the IRS that you have $13k in expenses. "Meals" is not a deductible expense, that's a personal expense and the IRS will nail you for it.

DeusExMachina 8y ago
I guess that depends on the country. I live in NL and (I checked with my accountant), I can deduct the cost of coffee I get at the cafe where I work, provided that I drink it while working.
- seanwilson 8y ago
  In the UK, it's along the lines of you can only expense food and drink if it's an expense that occurs while traveling away from your normal place of work for business purposes. Without travel expenses, purchasing lots of hardware or online service costs for running a project, I'd be interested in what people are expensing if their expenses are above say £5K a year.
novaleaf 8y ago
actually you can deduct meals. not sure for sole-proprietorships, but corporations and llc's most certainly can. (in the USA). However in case you get audited, make sure you keep reciepts (not just record of payment) and can justify it as being a food-while-working or bizdev expense.

arbuge 8y ago

This app looks like it could get alot of people into trouble if they interpret it as giving them some kind of permission to expense all their travel, meals, etc. You're only supposed to expense the items which were actually for business purposes, and no app can figure that out for you if your record-keeping throughout the year was sloppy. I don't think it will fly when you're sitting down uncomfortably with an IRS auditor if your defense is that some app told you to do it.