Home   Von Ormy Info   Recreation     TRUCKER INFO   Hazmat Route   Trucker Tax FAQ's   Weather   News   Intermodol	FAQ Why and how do you incorporate? There are two main reasons to incorporate. The first reason is your business may benefit from the  limited liability the corporation provides you. This means if there is a liabilit y claim against the corporation, the shareholders personal liability is limited to their investment in the corporation. The second reason is the possible tax savings. The IRS has stated corporations need to pay shareholders that work in the business a  reasonable salary. In most cases a  reasonable salary is lower than what the owners were making as sole-proprietors and paying self-employment tax on. The tax savings would amount to 15% of your company's net earnings over and above a  reasonable salary paid to the shareholders working in the business. When are estimated taxes due? April 15 June 15 September 15 January 15 When are 2290 payments due? August 31 What do estimated taxes include? Personal estimated taxes are usually paid quarterly to both the Federal and any taxable States. The taxes need to be paid quarterly to avoid penalties and interest when the tax returns are filed. The Federal estimated taxes include both income tax and self-employment tax (Social Security Tax). The State estimated taxes are paid to any taxable state in which you resided and/or had earned income during any given year. In most cases, there are two ways to avoid paying penalties and interest for not paying enough in on your estimated taxes. One is to make sure your estimates are equal to or greater than 100% of your previous year's total tax liability. The other is to make estimates totaling 90% or more of your current year's total tax liability. Should I lease or buy? This comes up almost daily and is never easily answered because of all the variables involved. In summary, when you lease a truck the entire lease payment is taken as an expense when paid. When you buy a truck, an expense is taken for depreciation and for interest paid on the loan. After much analysis and discussion we have found if you take the same truck and keep it for the full term of the contract the cash out-of-pocket as well as the deductible expenses are approximately the same. A purchase is a lot more flexible in regard to first year depreciation and trading or selling the truck prior to the end of the contract. Under a lease you have to keep an eye on the value of the truck versus the payoff amount prior to any trade or disposal because of high residual amounts at the end of the lease. Again, each scenario is different and needs to be analyzed before making the lease vs. buy decision. Can I deduct "deadhead" miles? In most cases all expenses for  deadhead miles are already being taken. Since 100% of the expenses for the operation of the truck are usually captured and deducted on the tax return, the  deadhead miles never need to be kept track o f.The IRS does not give an allowance for  lost revenue or  deadhead miles. For example: if the truck is paid for 1000 miles an d the truck is actually driven 1200, there is still no extra deduction for those unpaid miles. As long as you are taking 100% of the fuel, repairs, supplies, etc. it takes to drive all miles put on the truck you are taking all you are entitled to under IRS rules.