Mileage and Taxes

[TheArtist]

   Ok, got handed a sheet of paper this morning from my "significant other" containing a grid and list of categories to fill in, and a lecture on how I need to keep track of my mileage and such for if I don't and I get audited it will be trouble.  And if I don't I will be losing a lot of money tax wise.  On the sheet is a list of things I am supposed to "according to the IRS" keep track of.  Including keeping receipts and such.

Date  /  Start-Odometer-End  /  Miles /    Destination, Business Purpose,Museum, etc.   /   Park$  /  Gas$  /  Repairs$ /  Other$      


I was like, Really?  I may make easily 4,6,10 car trips a day or more and I have to sit there each time or at the end of every day and fill all that in?  The significant other put a guilt trip on me and said they were only trying to help and everything they read says you have to keep track of that stuff and I should go through last years calendar and try to reconstruct everything... egads!  

This seems like a pain.  Does anyone know if this is really what you have to do for I can't for the life of me remember seeing others doing this?  

    

[Conan71]

Technically, it’s what you are supposed to do.  Most people tend to sit down, guess a number, and use that as their mileage.  If they get audited, then they have to sit down and pencil-whip a mileage log.

If you don’t want to bother keeping track of mileage and claiming it as an expense on your taxes, that is your right.  However, being self employed and having the bite of self-employment tax along with income tax, anything you can legally do to reduce your liability is a bonus.  I’ve kept mileage logs in the past and they are a PITA at first, but after awhile, it’s second nature.

You might also check and see if there is a smartphone app for easier tracking that would run in the background and tie into the GPS function of your phone.  I seem to remember you had a smartphone of one sort or another.  If all you had to do was push one button when you started a business errand and one to stop, that would make it much easier, IMO.

As much as you do for the museum and client mileage, you might be shocked how much it would reduce your tax liability.

[YoungTulsan]

Assuming you are itemizing your deductions, there is a standard rate you can deduct of 51 cents per mile for 2011.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=232017,00.html

If you have a vehicle that you use for business and for personal use, you should keep track of how many miles you are driving for business, and log those.   All the other things don't really matter, unless you were trying to build a case that your vehicle costs more than 51 cents per mile to operate.  The IRS standard rate is pretty generous, so it is a no-brainer to just go with it, and not worry about every little expense.  Just hang on to receipts.

[Gaspar]

There's an app for that.  Actually there are several.  I use expensify.

www.expensify.com