Question

Logan owns a horse ranch. Logan dislikes horses, but he opened the ranch because he heard it was a lucrative business and he wanted to make money. Logan’s horse ranch has lost money every year for the past 5 years (including this year), but Logan has made some changes to business operations, including hiring a consultant and increasing his prices. Logan anticipates that as a result of these changes, his horse ranch will generate a profit in the next year or two. This year, Logan hired his brother, Luke, to work at the horse ranch. Logan pays Luke $500/hr to clean the horse stalls. Logan also hired his best friend, Lucy, to do Logan’s grocery shopping and other personal errands. He pays Lucy $15/hr. Which of the following is most accurate?
a. Logan cannot deduct any of the costs associated with the horse ranch because the horse ranch would be classified as a hobby, not a business
b. Logan can deduct the full salary paid to Luke because Luke works in Logan’s horse ranch business
c. Logan can deduct the full salary paid to Lucy because the amount of the expense is reasonable
d. Logan can deduct the full salary paid to Lucy because grocery shopping is ordinary and necessary
e. None of the above are correct

Answer 1

Answer:

Logan Horse Ranch

The most accurate is:

e. None of the above are correct

Explanation:

Logan's payment to his brother, Luke, of $500 per hour, is not a reasonable business expense that can be deductible.  Surely, $500 per hour is not a going rate for cleaning the horse stalls per hour.  With Lucy doing grocery shopping for Logan, it does not resonate like an ordinary and necessary expense for the business. Therefore, options A to D are not correct.  This leaves only option E as the most accurate.