Posted: 3/15/2017 8:31:27 PM EDT
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If movie stars and celebrities like Rosie and Ashley Judd and politicians like Bloomberg, DeBlasio, and Feinstein can hire body guards and security details, they no doubt, and rightfully so can write off those security costs as job related expenses. What about people that can't afford to hire personal protection, and instead handle it themselves? If your job requires to be in unsavory and documented unsafe neighborhoods, and there are no laws prohibiting you from legally carrying, you are in, effect providing your own security. Would it then not be unreasonable that since you are providing your own security, that the associated costs (i.e., firearm, holster, ammo, training costs, range time) be considered a job related expense also? So if big money can write off personal security costs, can small money write off personal security costs?
TL,DR: Can we write off guns and ammo? |
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My recommendation would be to discuss with your accountant...however I am asked every year how much I spent out of pocket in support of my vocation...and that money is figured into the overall figures. If your assertion is that you would not have incurred the expenses being claimed if not for your occupation, then I would think it should be deductible.
I'll defer to the attorneys and CPA's in the house. |
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I expect a typical accountant would say "only if you can justify them as being a normal, typical, and expected expense for your line of business".
Any accountant who is ok with you deducting guns/ammo/training without going into the details is just playing the odds and hoping you don't get audited. (in other words if you drive an armored van delivering money or are a jeweler who regularly transports millions in stones then you have a better case than a plumber/electrician who accepts jobs in the ghetto.) |