Tax Return for John Stantus on question:

Comprehensive Problem (Tax Return Problem). John Stantus, single, is the sole owner of Stantus Accounting Services, Co. He started the company, which is organized as a sole proprietorship, on February 10 of the current year. For this year, Stantus Accounting Services reported the following amounts of income and expenses:

Fee revenues $540,000

Expenses:

Employee wages (125,000)

Payroll taxes (9,563)

Advertising (3,600)

Insurance (2,400)

Utilities (7,200)

Rent (10,000)

Supplies (5,000)

Selling expenses (35,000)

John purchased a car on February 1 of the current year for $24,000. He uses the car for both business and personal purposes. Mileage logs indicate that John put 40,000 miles on the car this year. Of that total, 28,000 miles were business related and the remaining 12,000 were related to personal travel. John wants to deduct the maximum amount allowable for business use of his car.

John also purchased office equipment, computers and other five-year property for use in the business. He purchased $285,000 worth of such depreciable assets in March. He wants to deduct the maximum amount allowable under Code Sec. 179 and depreciate the remaining cost (if any) under the MACRS system. Assume that the Sec. 179 deduction and bonus depreciation are not extended past 2014.

Selling expenses include $6,000 spent for meals and entertainment incurred on Johns sales calls during the year.

Selling expenses also include $12,000 in illegal payments to city officials paid to secure a lucrative contract with the city. John was uncomfortable making this payment, but reasoned that the contract was important to get his business off to a good start.

Selling expenses also include gasoline, parking fees, and other documented auto expenses totaling $2,500 attributable to Johns sales calls.