If you are in business for yourself, carry on a trade or business as a sole proprietor or an independent contractor, you generally would consider yourself as a self-employed individual. You are an independent contractor if the person for whom you perform services for has only the right to control or direct the result of your work, not what will be done, or how it will be done.

To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your trade or business. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. An expense does not have to be indispensable to be considered necessary.

Before deciding to incorporate, you should seek legal and tax advice on what type of ownership best suits your business. Other forms of ownership may offer your company the advantages of incorporation, but also offer more management flexibility or tax advantages. You might also want to consider how big you expect the business to grow, and the sources of financing you expect to tap. An experienced attorney and tax advisor can help you decide which form of ownership is best for your business.

As a general rule of thumb, buy the asset if it will increase in value over time and you plan to keep it more than five years. If the asset will decrease in value, lease it.

Depending on the nature of your work, your occasional home use is unlikely to qualify for a home office deduction. In order to qualify for a home office deduction, your home office must be your principle place of business, or be a place where you meet clients or customers in the normal course of business.

Yes. However, you must be incorporated in the U.S.; have no more than 100 shareholders; have only one class of stock; shareholders must be U.S. citizens, resident aliens, estates, other S corporations, or certain qualified trusts.

Yes. A Revocation of S Corporation Status must be filed with the IRS, and a statement of consent from shareholders should be attached. It should state that as a group the shareholders own more than 50% of the issued and outstanding stock of the corporation.