AN, I think the problem with some of the blanket comments you are making is that there is a cost for the business to do this. If a “company/corporation” is buying/expensing fancy cars for the owner/exec, it’s costing them money. If companies choose to waste their money this way, be my guess. Take the tax benefits, but it’s still coming out of their cost. It’s not free. It’s a deduction. If you look at how some old startups were ran, they weren’t wasting money like this (except during the .com boom)…Most companies save as much as they can and don’t spend on frivolous things.
For sole proprietorships, you are limited in that you CAN’T deduct driving into the office. No one can. YES, there is some benefit to leasing a car, but it HAS to be justified. If you say you need a car to get to work and code, if you get audited, driving to work is not considered a valid deduction.
Yes, I see people deduct all sorts of things, but again, anyone can make up anything and risk an audit with no defense.
In terms of computers, all that stuff, all companies need these to run. It’s a valid business cost. Can you operate without it?
All that said, I’ve made the bigger bucks in the past in hi-tech as a w-2 worker and yes, taxes suck, but I had it tons easier too. I got plenty of “free” trips and travel, toys from work, free internet, expenses, meals, fun events, you name it. I honestly miss it actually and DON’T do any of that now. The company paid for all those back then, but it was a cost to keep me working and honestly, to do the work.
It IS TRUE that businesses get better retirement options and can write stuff off, but they still have to be legitimate for the business. Like can I fly to New York and say it’s work? Probably not…unless there is some event there relevant to work. Companies get this too, they send people to conferences and write it off. Just be a shareholder and you’re now a business owner as well. Of like I said, quit your day job and start a business and see how you do. It’s not as easy as stated I feel.
I also know dual income massive income people making more than 500k and what I hear is (true spoken words out loud): “They have so much money, they don’t know what to do with it”.
I’m not really feeling “sorry” for people making 500k+ alone in just income…not even counting passive investments, retirement, etc…
If they can’t do “well” or “get ahead” in this world, then something is massively wrong.
All this said again, I highly doubt this will past since it’s a Republican congress.
