Adam Garfield, CPA

So, long time no write/muse/blog/ramble.  I can use tax season as an excuse, and it was, in fact, very busy, but having said that, it’s been mostly over for a month plus now.  So that excuse is a bit lame-A.

I have missed this.  Writing is usually pretty cathartic for me, even something as snore-inducing (I’m sure some people see it this way) as restaurant accounting.  Nice outlet, change of pace from my regular work, all that stuff.  But I apparently haven’t missed it enough to do something about it, which is put fingers to keyboard and start banging away.

Before I dive back into the blog focus at hand, I’ll share a few random thoughts with you that I’ve been mulling over.  First is my favorite tax season story. I have this real estate agent client.  Great guy, funny, very generous (he let me and my buddy stay at an investment home of his for a baseball tournament that both of our kids played in last year in St George, Utah).  Amongst other things, he’s really into muscle cars.  He has a couple of Corvettes, a Mustang, and I’m sure if his funds were unlimited the collection would be greatly expanded.  I suggested that he get himself a Datsun B-210 “Honey Bee”.  He said no.  Am I the only one who digs those things?

Anyway, he’s constantly looking for deductions for his business.  He wanted to deduct the cost for his muscle cars.  I explained to him that sure, we could do that - to the extent of their business use. He responded by informing me that of course they were legitimate business vehicles, because every time he cruised around in them he’d get stares from everyone and was convinced that this somehow translated into business income.  I had to let him know that unless a conversation similar to, “Hey, bitchin’ ‘vette man, will you sell my house now?” had taken place, he didn’t really have an argument that the cars were used for his real estate business.  And for you hard-core tax guys or girls who may be reading this and thinking, “Yeah, but if he puts miles on the cars while he is showing houses, he can deduct the cost”, rest assured, he doesn’t.

On a related note, I have a buddy whose wife makes those vinyl letters and designs that are popular right now.  People usually put them in their houses or on their cars. I have a good friend - actually one of the finest people I know - whose home interior is nearly covered with these things.  Inspiring phrases and words everywhere.  It’s like “Chicken Soup for the Soul” threw up on every wall.

Beyond the home use, while I don’t know if this particular application has made its way out of the state of Utah, you see here a lot of mini vans that have the back windows plastered with vinyl cutouts of stick-figure people representing members of the family that owns the van.  You know, typically a larger male and female figure for the parents, then smaller ones, identifiable by gender, representing each of the children, often in correspondingly smaller size for each child’s age or height.  In Utah, that often means a minimum of five to twelve kiddies.  Then they’ll throw in a kitty or doggie cutout for their pet Snowball or Rover, or even a fish shape for Nemo.  I’m sure there’s a contingent of folks that pleasantly sigh at the sight of these things. Makes me want to ralph.

Anyway, back to my point.  My buddy told me that as long as you have at least three sides of your vehicle advertising your business with these vinyl items, then you can ‘write off’ the vehicle’s costs for your business.  Hmmm, interesting take.

So, I’m back writing.  Will it last?  I hope so.  I plan on it.  Thanks for staying with me.

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