(UPDATE: The giveaway is now closed. We have a winner! See the comments for more info.)
It’s Back To School Week on the blog!
My daughter has ice hockey on Sunday evenings. My other daughter has chorus on Wednesday mornings. Both girls run on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. And my son plays soccer on Saturday mornings.
Our lives are busy. But it could be worse. Here’s what we aren’t doing this semester: field hockey (full) and ballet (couldn’t make the timing work); rugby; horseback riding; drama and art.
My kids want to do everything. There are days when I literally feel like a project coordinator and transportation manager. All of this running around has to be tax-deductible, right?
Here’s the easy answer: you cannot deduct the costs of getting to and from school or after school activities, no matter if you take a bus, trolley, subway, taxi, drive your own car or, if my kids had their way, a horse. Commuting expenses are never deductible.
What if, however, instead of driving just my own kids, I threw a few more kids into my car? Does carpooling make it deductible? Nope. Expenses for parking, tolls or gas – none of those things are deductible for personal expenses. However, since they’re not deductible expenses, if you are reimbursed by all of the other soccer moms those expenses, that’s not income to you either.
But what if I got so busy that I hired someone to do all this stuff for me? What if, for example, I hired a chauffeur à la Hudson Cornelius Heinemann (or these Seattle public school children) to get my kids to and from school and their activities? Is that deductible? Nope – and it may even cost you more in taxes. If you hire a driver, depending on the circumstances, you might have a household employee. A household employee is someone who performs household work and can be classed as an employee because you exercise control over their duties; household employees can include babysitters, cleaners, gardeners, housekeepers, nannies, nurses, and yes, drivers. If the worker is an employee (and not an independent contractor), you must also pay taxes on wages you pay to your employees. In most cases, the payroll taxes you pay in connection to those wages are not deductible on your individual tax return. These are personal expenses, not business expenses – even though the Internal Revenue Service may consider you an employer.
The bottom line is that having kids is expensive and sometimes, no matter how hard you try to spin it, you can’t take a deduction for everything. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t let your kids dip their toes in lots of activities – you just have to figure out how to manage it all.
And that brings us to today’s giveaway! Camperoo is offering one reader a “Try 3” activity passport. The programs are novel and eclectic, ranging from arts to language learning to computer skills to dancing. Kids can choose their activities AND parents will save a bundle. It’s a win-win!
Most of the time, kids don’t know what they like until they try it. Passport gives your kids a chance to test out activities before you make any financial commitments. It’s a pass that gives your child temporary access to three different types of activities for just $39.99. Once the Passport trial period is over, you’ll have the opportunity to sign your child up for his or her favorite activity. All Passport participants receive a 10% discount on their favorite activity.
Passports expire 30 days from purchase (so you must try all 3 within 30 days). Activities include: Science, Technology, Chess, Art, Music (learn an instrument), Theater (Acting, Musicals, Production), Dancing, Gymnastics, Swimming, Martial Arts, Basketball, Football, Rock Climbing, Fencing, Wilderness, Equestrian.
To enter for a chance to win, just post a comment telling me your favorite after school activity when you were a kid. I’ll go first: Soccer.
Entries must be posted in the comments section for this blog post in the space below by 9:00 p.m. EST on September 11, 2013. It’s just that easy. I’ll choose the winner randomly (using a number generator) out of all of the qualifying entries.
Be sure and read the fine print for more rules because, as you know, I’m a lawyer and I like rules:
- Don’t panic if your comment doesn’t show immediately. If it goes to moderation because, for example, you’re new here, the time stamp on your comment is what counts.
- I love my Twitter followers and my Facebook fans but for this particular giveaway, tweets and Facebook comments will not be counted. Ditto for emails. You must leave your comment on the blog at this post.
- You can enter as many times as you like but you must leave a different answer each time you comment.
- Offensive comments or comments that otherwise violate the comment policy will be deleted and will not be considered valid for purposes of the contest. Similarly, pingbacks and other links will be disregarded for purposes of the contest.
- You must include your full name and your email address with your entry, just enter it when you register to comment. I won’t publish your email address but I do need contact information for the winning entry.
- Due to shipping considerations, only United States addresses, please. Sorry, Canada, eh?
- I respect your privacy and I will not send you anything unrelated to your entry in this contest. By entering the contest, you agree that I may post any part or all of your submission including your name as a part of the contest announcements or promotions, with the exception of your email address.
- Like Judge Judy, my determination is final.
- Prizes are provided directly by our sponsors. Sponsors do not pay for placement and do not receive any compensation for contributions – neither do I have any affiliation, paid or otherwise, with any of our sponsors.
Comment away! And thanks for participating in Back To School Week!