Claiming Yard work as a Business Tax Deducation with LLC sole

[danb]

My wife's has a LLC Sole proprietorship. Here professional title is: "personal concierge". She has claimed mileage for her clients as a business expense tax deduction. One of her professional skills is landscaping.  If I were to hire her to landscape our yard, and she rented a truck picked up some yard supplies, and performed the work, would she be able to write off the truck rental and gas mileage as a business expense tax deduction or are their rules against performing work on your own property?

[FoundPeace]

From my quick search I would have to say no. It would work for anyone else's landscaping though.

If this tax loophole was possible, then it would make sense for every DIYer to form an LLC so they could bill their partner for improvements, make a "profit" by transferring money from your partner, etc. Things get pretty complicated.

 

[pksr]

I believe if you paid her less than the cost of the expense (which is the only way this would benefit you, tax-wise) then it'd be a red flag - it's not really part of her "business" as it's clearly just a tax game and would certainly look sketchy to the IRS. If you paid her more than the cost of the expense, you'd be worse off (creating net income for her with after-tax dollars from you, notwithstanding the tax deductible expenses). If you paid her exactly the cost of the expense, you'd be (as a couple) neutral, but would have gone through a lot of trouble for no reason.

[Greg]

If the landscaping would serve as a portfolio piece or otherwise an example of her work, especially that she would show to prospective clients, then it is a business expense... the project as a whole.  The truck rental would be a cost of doing business, not a deduction.  Mileage on a rental? Pfft.