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Comment by njsubedi | Hacker News Reader

tl;dr: Troy went into the rabbit hole of buying a bunch of high-cost gadgets and accessories [that he legitimately needed] to get tax deductions.

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And due to changes in the home office deduction in 2018 most people can't even do the same for themselves.

I'm kind of surprised that congress critters are not focusing on home office deductions as part of the incentives. The $1200 is an advance (not free money), but an actual deduction would be useful come around next year.

Deductions are a tax break for people who have time or resources to strategise their interactions with the tax system.

Not sure your point, but if you're attempting to say that deductions only work for people that don't file 1040ez, then yeah, you're right. Surely, you have more of a point than that though, yeah? Hiring a CPA or even just an accountant to do your taxes can be more expensive, but it has never failed to yield a large enough reason to not incur that expense, for me.

Your response proves my point. As you are someone who knows that that an accountant saves you enough in taxes to justify the expense, you are a person who has time or resources to strategise their interactions with the tax system.

Many people don't have the luxury of strategising any of their interactions with the tax system. Either because their situation isn't covered by any deductions, or because they don't posses the knowledge, or because they don't possess sufficient free time to investigate.

Last I checked max you can claim for purchasing home office equipment in Australia is $300. Although he claim the decline in value every year. Which would probably get you $300 again.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Ded...

If he is running haveibeenpwned, he is probably purchasing through a company with instant asset write-off.

Could instant asset write-offs apply?

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