Tax Q - Schedule C

[JStrattonPhotography]

What line do you enter in the expenses paid for camera equipment? Would this be listed as Line 22 - Supplies or do you use line 13 and depreciate the value. Since I am new to this and had VERY little income from business last year but quite a bit in equipment expenses we opted to try our hand at filing ourselves instead of using an accountant.

[bondarnes]

I'm not sure what line it goes on, but equipment can be depreciated over several returns. It can also be totally expensed in the year purchased. If you had very little income last year, I would suggest depreciating it, although you are also allowed to carry over business losses to the next year.

[Jeff Lane]

Camera equipment would not be a Line 22 item -- but it can qualify as a "Section 179" expense. Generally, Section 179 allows you to "expense" in one year up to $250,000 worth of new camera equipment that you placed in service in 2009 and that you use for your business. Claiming the expense requires you to attach Form 4562, but if you bought more than a couple of umbrellas, it would be worth it to download the form from Internal Revenue Service (don't forget to download instructions, which don't come with the form for some reason) and fill it out.