Vincent writes:Thanks for your article, “Deduct Home Phone, Internet, Cell Phone“, but I was also hoping you would have told us *where* to deduct these qualified phone, modem, ISP, etc. charges. I never know if they should be counted as office expenses, utilities, fees, or something else. Also, as for keeping a log of business-related phone calls, wouldn’t the monthly statement from the phone carrier suffice, at least for most of the information, especially if it were annotated in such a way to exclude personal calls, with the assumption that everything remaining was business related? Certainly we don’t have to keep such logs for phone use in the corporate arena, even in small businesses (or do we??).

My reply:Thanks for your comment and thanks for reading my blog.

Where you deduct your expenses depends on which forms you are required to complete. If you’re a sole proprietor completing Schedule C, then you’d deduct it as part of your list of “other deductions”.

If your monthly statement from your phone carrier says WHO you called and WHAT THE BUSINESS PURPOSE OF THE CALL WAS, then yes, it will suffice, but most phone companies don’t know that information, which is why you need to keep your own log.

Until they change the law, which they’ve been working on, everyone who uses a cell phone must abide by these rules. It doesn’t matter if you’re a corporation or sole proprietor. The same goes for laptop use. The general rule of thumb is, “Anything that can easily be taken home to use needs a log”.

Best wishes,
Gina