I do agree with the other guys, that there is not much to get, and the IRS probably doesn't have time for the small pickins.
But here is my perspective as to the numbers. I have had both a small business (Schedule C) and a farm (Schedule F). My small business was a sole propritorship (sp?) in the home maintenance and subcontracting business. Well, of course the cost of materials is a "supply" item. If the check for the job is for the complete job, then that is for his labor and materials plus his insurance and other business expenses. Often a job will be somewhere in the 50% supplies and 50% labor. Many jobs exceed this ratio for the cost of materials. Example: Replace a sliding glass door: door, frame and tracking ~$500. New interior trim, caulking, special sealants for the sill, maybe ~$100. Install time less than one day (8 hours) which might be billed out anywhere from $10/hr to $25/hr. But for a small guy in this economy, the $10/hr is more likely. So he has $600 in supplies and $80 to maybe $100 in labor. At the $100 labor charge, his part of the total bill is 14%, and the materials (supplies) are 86%.
You might think the guy is a schmuck, but he sure isn't getting rich. I've walked many miles in those shoes, and was very good at my craft. But then the customer has an "emergency" (needs to take the kids to Disneyland) and can't pay the bill, until "maybe next fall". My son had some female type give him this exact excuse. She paid a year later, while his kids needed groceries and clothes and he had done a quality job. I have a ton of other stories about non-paying customers.
So you go to work every day, and do your best for every customer, take your licks and fill out the 1040 every April, and it doesn't look very good. But does that mean the sole prop should just sit home and try to collect some govt check instead of working??? Many of these guys are too proud for that, and so get up every morning, hoping the phone rings a couple of times per week, and that the customer will pay when the job is complete.
Sir, I think you have been spoiled by having a good business, or formerly having a business in a good economy.
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Today's Featured Article - A Belt Pulley? Really Doing Something? - by Chris Pratt. Belt Pulleys! Most of us conjure up a picture of a massive thresher with a wide belt lazily arching to a tractor 35 feet away throwing a cloud of dust, straw and grain, and while nostalgic, not too practical a method of using our tractors. While this may have been the bread and butter of the belt work in the past (since this is what made the money on many farms), the smaller tasks may have been and still can be its real claim to fame. The thresher would bring in the harvest (and income) once a y
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