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Failed shop, does it count as an expense?

April 08, 2016 10:12PM
Tax time is really near, and I'm getting really nervous. I just have one question.

Can you count expenses if you failed a shop? For example, if you shop a location and you bought the wrong item, can you count mileage and the item as an expense?
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April 08, 2016 10:41PM
Yes. Your mileage and expenses can be claimed but NOT the fee that you were promised but not paid. When I have a failed shop I leave all the information on my spreadsheet except the fee and I make a note that the shop was rejected.

The logic is that not every business gets paid for every service they perform with reasonable expectation of payment. A business doesn't get to not pay their employee who went out perform the service. They aren't going to keep track of that specific mileage on the company owned vehicle to not claim it. The cost of whatever parts they used and can't retrieve doesn't just go away.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2016 10:42PM by Flash.
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April 09, 2016 12:21AM
Good yo know I was just going to ask this question on how others handle this. I had a shop rejected last week for blurry pizza pictures. Bummer but at least I can count it as an expense.
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April 10, 2016 02:28PM
Expenses associated with rejected or even mistaken (you went to the wrong place, etc.) shops are definitely legitimate business expenses. This isn't even a gray area.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
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April 10, 2016 03:12PM
I color code my Excel spreadsheet so I can see at a glace if a shop's been paid or not. For my failed, rejected, or otherwise unpaid shops I use red, along with a explanation in the comments cell. Fortunately, those red shops are few and far between!

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt
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