What is your approx budget $$ amount for marketing?

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

I agree that website IS marketing absolutely, it is the BEST BANG FOR OUR BUCK!!
Can I write off my 8 gig card and new digital SLR which I use for the website? I believe I can, then I get to depreciate it and pay more taxes on it. UGH! So I have to decide if I WANT to or not. (If it is used primarily for the business.)
Each inn spends a diff amt on website,hosting, design, maintenance, etc and it is mandatory. So I was purely asking about OTHER than that - ie all other marketing and advertising.
So if you want to give the whole ball of wax, then I will take that, and then have to add into my own hosting/domains/etc to compare..

I have a little bit of a different tickle in my taxes problem. I get hit with Personal Property tax on anything I have by my County. I have to fill out a form every year by Oct 1 of EVERYTHING the B & B (and another for us) we had/owned on July 1. Then when I submit this - to be sure I am being honest - I also must submit a Schedule C from my Federal taxes.
Now, do I claim the $1000 I spent on the tea hutch (purchased because of B & B) and pay taxes on it ad infinitum to the County? Do I claim what I paid for my kitchen cabinet that I bought to keep B & B stuff in? Do I claim that Zarafina machine or my roaster? I claim only what is too big to absorb - bathroom remodeling and anything that I can depreciate. They take whatever I spent on food and divide it by 12 and that is what they assess as being on hand on July 1. Marketing is one of the few things they cannot hit me with as personal property.
.

We had/have that business property tax here, too. (Sorry, I know it's going away, just don't know if it's gone yet for this year.) What's on the list? Mattresses, furniture, vacuums, computers, the 'hardware' of running the business. The stuff with a long shelf life. (Insert 'pirate' smiley here as this thread gets hijacked...)
.

We had/have that business property tax here, too. (Sorry, I know it's going away, just don't know if it's gone yet for this year.) What's on the list? Mattresses, furniture, vacuums, computers, the 'hardware' of running the business. The stuff with a long shelf life. (Insert 'pirate' smiley here as this thread gets hijacked...)

Ahoy pirates.
We pay business tax on our outdoor furniture, fence and sign. UGH. Then anything I claim, even sheets! It is what it is here.

 

[gillumhouse]

I agree that website IS marketing absolutely, it is the BEST BANG FOR OUR BUCK!!
Can I write off my 8 gig card and new digital SLR which I use for the website? I believe I can, then I get to depreciate it and pay more taxes on it. UGH! So I have to decide if I WANT to or not. (If it is used primarily for the business.)
Each inn spends a diff amt on website,hosting, design, maintenance, etc and it is mandatory. So I was purely asking about OTHER than that - ie all other marketing and advertising.
So if you want to give the whole ball of wax, then I will take that, and then have to add into my own hosting/domains/etc to compare..

I have a little bit of a different tickle in my taxes problem. I get hit with Personal Property tax on anything I have by my County. I have to fill out a form every year by Oct 1 of EVERYTHING the B & B (and another for us) we had/owned on July 1. Then when I submit this - to be sure I am being honest - I also must submit a Schedule C from my Federal taxes.
Now, do I claim the $1000 I spent on the tea hutch (purchased because of B & B) and pay taxes on it ad infinitum to the County? Do I claim what I paid for my kitchen cabinet that I bought to keep B & B stuff in? Do I claim that Zarafina machine or my roaster? I claim only what is too big to absorb - bathroom remodeling and anything that I can depreciate. They take whatever I spent on food and divide it by 12 and that is what they assess as being on hand on July 1. Marketing is one of the few things they cannot hit me with as personal property.
.

I have a little bit of a different tickle in my taxes problem. I get hit with Personal Property tax on anything I have by my County. I have to fill out a form every year by Oct 1 of EVERYTHING the B & B (and another for us) we had/owned on July 1. Then when I submit this - to be sure I am being honest - I also must submit a Schedule C from my Federal taxes.
Now, do I claim the $1000 I spent on the tea hutch (purchased because of B & B) and pay taxes on it ad infinitum to the County? Do I claim what I paid for my kitchen cabinet that I bought to keep B & B stuff in? Do I claim that Zarafina machine or my roaster? I claim only what is too big to absorb - bathroom remodeling and anything that I can depreciate. They take whatever I spent on food and divide it by 12 and that is what they assess as being on hand on July 1. Marketing is one of the few things they cannot hit me with as personal property.

I was told that the kitchen is not claimable. Unless it is 100% B&B kitchen ONLY (like Bree has in her inn). If the hutch was in the dining room then you could. That was HOW I interpretted it. A new fridge? Can't claim it unless it is only B&B in the B&B. But like you said, if you claim anything you get to pay depreciation tax for the rest of your life on it. BUT you can claim THAT tax on your taxes as business expense.
.

My sheets, blankets, dishes, silverware, if they can find it, they will tax it. I am still getting taxed on my 13 year old computer. We pay a tax on our car every year (not talking about license plates or the inspection sticker) and that is about all they get us for on personal since we do not have any other property or dogs or cats (yes they are also taxed and licensed - dogs any way).
I stopped claiming sheets, towels, bathrobes, etc because I do not want to end up paying personal property on them and as long as I have not claimed them, they cannot tax me on them. I can own as many bathrobes as I want as long as I do not claim them as a business expense.

 

[Morticia]

I agree that website IS marketing absolutely, it is the BEST BANG FOR OUR BUCK!!
Can I write off my 8 gig card and new digital SLR which I use for the website? I believe I can, then I get to depreciate it and pay more taxes on it. UGH! So I have to decide if I WANT to or not. (If it is used primarily for the business.)
Each inn spends a diff amt on website,hosting, design, maintenance, etc and it is mandatory. So I was purely asking about OTHER than that - ie all other marketing and advertising.
So if you want to give the whole ball of wax, then I will take that, and then have to add into my own hosting/domains/etc to compare..

I have a little bit of a different tickle in my taxes problem. I get hit with Personal Property tax on anything I have by my County. I have to fill out a form every year by Oct 1 of EVERYTHING the B & B (and another for us) we had/owned on July 1. Then when I submit this - to be sure I am being honest - I also must submit a Schedule C from my Federal taxes.
Now, do I claim the $1000 I spent on the tea hutch (purchased because of B & B) and pay taxes on it ad infinitum to the County? Do I claim what I paid for my kitchen cabinet that I bought to keep B & B stuff in? Do I claim that Zarafina machine or my roaster? I claim only what is too big to absorb - bathroom remodeling and anything that I can depreciate. They take whatever I spent on food and divide it by 12 and that is what they assess as being on hand on July 1. Marketing is one of the few things they cannot hit me with as personal property.
.

I have a little bit of a different tickle in my taxes problem. I get hit with Personal Property tax on anything I have by my County. I have to fill out a form every year by Oct 1 of EVERYTHING the B & B (and another for us) we had/owned on July 1. Then when I submit this - to be sure I am being honest - I also must submit a Schedule C from my Federal taxes.
Now, do I claim the $1000 I spent on the tea hutch (purchased because of B & B) and pay taxes on it ad infinitum to the County? Do I claim what I paid for my kitchen cabinet that I bought to keep B & B stuff in? Do I claim that Zarafina machine or my roaster? I claim only what is too big to absorb - bathroom remodeling and anything that I can depreciate. They take whatever I spent on food and divide it by 12 and that is what they assess as being on hand on July 1. Marketing is one of the few things they cannot hit me with as personal property.

I was told that the kitchen is not claimable. Unless it is 100% B&B kitchen ONLY (like Bree has in her inn). If the hutch was in the dining room then you could. That was HOW I interpretted it. A new fridge? Can't claim it unless it is only B&B in the B&B. But like you said, if you claim anything you get to pay depreciation tax for the rest of your life on it. BUT you can claim THAT tax on your taxes as business expense.
.

My sheets, blankets, dishes, silverware, if they can find it, they will tax it. I am still getting taxed on my 13 year old computer. We pay a tax on our car every year (not talking about license plates or the inspection sticker) and that is about all they get us for on personal since we do not have any other property or dogs or cats (yes they are also taxed and licensed - dogs any way).
I stopped claiming sheets, towels, bathrobes, etc because I do not want to end up paying personal property on them and as long as I have not claimed them, they cannot tax me on them. I can own as many bathrobes as I want as long as I do not claim them as a business expense.
.

Yup, we pay on the car every year, too. One car is 14 years old, one car is 6 years old. The 14 yo car pays more in taxes because the original sticker was 2.5 x the newer car. I said that before...if we had bought the car for $100 because it was a beater, it makes no difference, the tax is paid on Blue Book value no matter the condition of the car itself. And they stop counting at 5 years. So we will continue to pay Blue Book value taxes on a 14 yo car as if it was 5 years old and in pristine condition with low miles and all the bells and whistles.

 

[swirt]

I agree that website IS marketing absolutely, it is the BEST BANG FOR OUR BUCK!!
Can I write off my 8 gig card and new digital SLR which I use for the website? I believe I can, then I get to depreciate it and pay more taxes on it. UGH! So I have to decide if I WANT to or not. (If it is used primarily for the business.)
Each inn spends a diff amt on website,hosting, design, maintenance, etc and it is mandatory. So I was purely asking about OTHER than that - ie all other marketing and advertising.
So if you want to give the whole ball of wax, then I will take that, and then have to add into my own hosting/domains/etc to compare..

I have a little bit of a different tickle in my taxes problem. I get hit with Personal Property tax on anything I have by my County. I have to fill out a form every year by Oct 1 of EVERYTHING the B & B (and another for us) we had/owned on July 1. Then when I submit this - to be sure I am being honest - I also must submit a Schedule C from my Federal taxes.
Now, do I claim the $1000 I spent on the tea hutch (purchased because of B & B) and pay taxes on it ad infinitum to the County? Do I claim what I paid for my kitchen cabinet that I bought to keep B & B stuff in? Do I claim that Zarafina machine or my roaster? I claim only what is too big to absorb - bathroom remodeling and anything that I can depreciate. They take whatever I spent on food and divide it by 12 and that is what they assess as being on hand on July 1. Marketing is one of the few things they cannot hit me with as personal property.
.

We had/have that business property tax here, too. (Sorry, I know it's going away, just don't know if it's gone yet for this year.) What's on the list? Mattresses, furniture, vacuums, computers, the 'hardware' of running the business. The stuff with a long shelf life. (Insert 'pirate' smiley here as this thread gets hijacked...)
.

We had/have that business property tax here, too. (Sorry, I know it's going away, just don't know if it's gone yet for this year.) What's on the list? Mattresses, furniture, vacuums, computers, the 'hardware' of running the business. The stuff with a long shelf life. (Insert 'pirate' smiley here as this thread gets hijacked...)

Ahoy pirates.
We pay business tax on our outdoor furniture, fence and sign. UGH. Then anything I claim, even sheets! It is what it is here.
.

Sheets shouldn't be considered durable, I would think you shouldn't have to declare them in that manner. (granted I know nothing about the tax laws in your state/county )

 

[Copperhead]

One of the many things I have learned from this group is that what work for some, may not work for all. This is true even in marketing and I really think that providing a dollar figure would not provide you with the real information you are after. There are many reasons for this but includes location, size of B&B, type of B&B (full time or side bus.) and many others.
Reason 1 Example: If I remember correctly Bree has one local directory that fees are over $1000... (Bree, feel free to correct me here,I am going by my memory), But my 2 local & state are only $300 combined.
Reason 2: More comp. equals more $ spent to keep up with the Jones..so to speak
Reason 3 & 4: A 2-3 room B&B does not need to do as much to fill rooms, where a 10+ room B&B, does. A part time or sideline business has the same principle.
- Regarding Sheets, towels and such, I do not include them under personal property tax. I just glanced at the yearly form from my state and it refers to furniture and equipment, things with a long shelf life (so to speak) - as Swirt says durible. Of course I will place this clause - this is ME in MY state.. If this is a question of consern for you, you should call your assessors office and get clarification.