Yes, you should include those things. They are expenses that you must account for, and should be included to determine your net profit or loss.

You work for free? You certainly are drafting a salary, you just don't know how much it is.

 

No, food should not be included. Does an accountant charge you for the food he eats while doing your taxes?

First, I don't know of any single truck driver that makes a "salary", second my "profits" go to me, all of it, as I am a self-employed person. If I was paying a driver, I would have to account for his wages in the cost of operating a truck.

 

Yes he does, indirectly. What I pay him covers his salary, which he buys his food with. If the price of food goes up, he charges me more.

Now you know one. And, oddly, my salary is the EXACT amount of my home bills. Everything else is profit.

Doing it this way shows me EXACTLY how much profit I am earning on a load. No need to worry about what bills need to be paid, as they are all covered under my salary.

I am a self-employed person as well, but I treat my business like a corporation.

 

Exactly, you are treating your "salary", and "meals" differently, yet everyone else doesn't.

I see what you're getting at, but again that is under your "personal" living expenses, not what it costs the truck to run.

The two ARE seperate, but by figuring how much your household costs, you are never going to "short change yourself".

Basically what you're doing is setting a "minimum" what you will work for, but again that is different then how much it costs your truck to run down the road.

 

Which was my point from the beginning.

Now you are getting in to "Fixed" vs. "Variable" costs, which is a completely different ball of wax.

 

Which is in tangent to the subject at hand. Your truck does not cost you your house bills to operate.

See above.

 

Okay, if that's the case, then you cannot include ANY fixed costs, but only variable costs. This is a silly and pointless question to ask, as it doesn't really show anything.

 

If you eat in restaraunt while on the road and you eat at home when you're at home, then that is an extra expense and I would argue that it's perfectly reasonable to include those meal expenses in your operating costs.....and deduct them from your income as well. Especiallly if you don't have a microwave and fridge in your truck. Certainly that costs more than if you were to eat at home. Whether or not it's a smart business expense is another matter.

BTW, Revenue Canada allows you deduct meals...although now they've capped it at 20%. :roll:

 

That's a very good point, rank.

The government allows us a Per Diem for meals, citing that they are a DEDUCTIBLE BUSINESS EXPENSE, yet according to allan5oh, they shouldn't be included as an expense.

So I trust you do not take the per diem off on your taxes, allan?

 

Of course I do, but that doesn't mean I'm eating at a restaurant every day.

I know one guy all he does on the road is eat soup, so he actually makes money off that deduction.

You can also deduct interest paid on the mortgage, as well as a certain % of house expenses. Are those expenses of the truck? Well, do you NEED a house to have a truck? Obviously not.

Personal vehicles are also deductible, to a point. Again, you don't need a personal vehicle to run a rig.