rv

i work for fed ex as a truck driver. i was transferred to another city but i commute back and forth on the weekends to my primary residence. i recently bought a rv to live in during the week for my work. fed ex does not pay for any of my living expenses. is any of this rv purchase qualify for any tax deduction at all? thanks a lot

If you are financing your RV, you may be able to claim the interest payments as a home mortgage deduction, even if the lender doesn't report this interest to the IRS on form 1098.

This above answer was given with the assumption that you are an employee for fed ex, not a contractor.

If you are in fact a contractor, you may be able to depreciate the entire purchase price of the RV (not just the interest), assuming that the RV is used strictly for your business, which also assumes that the RV is not used as your residence. Also, if you are a contractor, you may also be able to claim the mileage expense deduction for traveling from your primary residence to the other city where you are working. The only down side of depreciating the entire purchase price is that if you sell the RV later, you will probably have to pay some capital gains tax. Since RVs depreciate in value over time, the benefit of the tax deduction in a higher amount now outweighs the capital gains tax on a smaller amount later.

Sissa51,

Maxwell has properly indicated you may qualify to deduct your mortgage interest on 1040 Schedule A.

If you did not own a home for the 3 years prior to purchasing this RV, you may qualify for a refundable tax credit of 10% of the purchase price up to a maximum credit of $7,500. The down side to this credit is it must be paid back in equal payments over the next 15 years.

The biggest problem for this credit, you must use the RV as your principle residence for the 15 years. There are several other requirements to meet too: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=186831,00.html

thanks a lot guys. i just wasnt sure if i could have depreciated the rv or not but i thank you so much.

forgot one thing. i pay a weekly amount to keep my rv in this park. is any of this tax deductable since i am an employee of fedex and not a contractor>? thanks again.

Sissa51,

Probably not. Your lot fee includes things like trash and garbage pick-up, street maintenance in the park, etc. You can not deduct those things on your first home, why should you be allowed to deduct these items on the second home. Remember you chose to have a second home. You could move your primary residence to your new location.

OK, if you can get an itemized bill showing how much property and school tax you are paying in your lot rent, you may be able to deduct that. I doubt you can get the itemized bill.