Travis is a professional landscaper. He provides his clients with a one-year (12-month) warranty for retaining walls he installs. In June of year 1, Travis installed a wall for an important client, Sheila. In early November, Sheila informed Travis that the retaining wall had failed. To repair the wall, Travis paid $700 cash for additional stone that he delivered to Sheila's location on November 20 of year 1. Travis also offered to pay a mason $800 to repair the wall. Due to some bad weather and the mason's work backlog, the mason agreed to begin the work by the end of January of year 2. Even though Travis expected the mason to finish the project by end of February, Travis informed the mason that he would only pay the mason the $800 when he completed the job.
a. Assuming Travis is an accrual-method taxpayer, how much can he deduct in year 1 from these activities?
b. Assuming Travis is a cash-method taxpayer, how much can he deduct in year 1 from these activities?