Next time you hear someone use the phrase “write it off on your taxes” ask them if they know what it means. The responses you’ll get are hilarious.

People really think that somehow “write it off on your taxes” means that you don’t have to pay for things.

1: “Did you see that sweet new truck that John got?”

2: “Yeah, he probably just wrote it off on his taxes though since he’s a farmer.”

Yeah, he probably did, which means that instead of him, personally paying the sales taxes on it, his business (the farm) paid the taxes.

The cost of the truck doesn’t just disappear because it’s a business expense.

Another example:

1: “Wow John really grew too much corn this year.”

2: “Yeah, but whatever he didn’t sell he can just write off on his taxes.”

Just because you write off something as a loss on your taxes doesn’t mean that you get fully compensated for the time and money that went into producing it. You get the amount of taxes owed reduced by a little as an acknowledgement that you didn’t earn as much as you could have.

I’m not a tax expert and these examples aren’t even that good. They’re just somewhat similar to things I’ve heard people say and how they’re easily debunked if you know even the slightest bit about taxes.

End of thread, thanks for coming to my shitty TED talk.