Business mileage tax deduction
 

Self employed, personal car used for business occasionally, using the mileage method, not commuting.

If I drive to the airport and back I can deduct the standard mileage allowance each way. However, if I drive to the airport with the wife (non-employee) as a passenger, she drives it home, then comes back the following week to pick me up, and I drive home again, can I deduct all four trips or just the two where I was in the car? The sole purpose of the wife driving was to transfer the car, not for her to go shopping or anything else.

Thanks.

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

My husband is in the same situation. We count the mileage anytime the car is used for business, so even though your wife is driving, since it was for business purposes, I'd count the mileage. If your wife drives the car on a business errand for you, while you're not there, that mileage can be counted too.

Rene

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

Thanks Rene! It certainly adds up when it's a 55*4 mile trip!

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

Me too. Everything business related.

Incidentally, I've found the IRS fairly decent to deal with.

In the past I've made mistakes and they've made mistakes. When either party has pointed the errors out it's generally been a case of, oh alright then, and a few dollars have changed hands.

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

Hmm, I wondered about amending last year's return for this same thing. I only claimed the miles I drove that year.

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

Check if it's worth it?
I'd do it.

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

A couple of hundred miles probably... yeah!

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

My minimum metric is...if the difference can buy a decent bottle of wine.
Why not...

:drinkingwine:

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

I have this joy to deal with for the first time. I've been using MileIQ on my phone to track business mileage, so I'm hoping it will all be straight forward enough.

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

You do a lot of traveling?

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

Me? Not as much as some, but I have a business repairing phones, tablets etc. I travel to the customer, so I do enough to want to claim back what hopefully I'm entitled to.

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

Absolutely Mark...I know you'd posted in the past about an airline related position...I guess you've been developing you're own stuff since?

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

Without wishing to start another TurboTax vs handwritten vs AN Other argument, I used TT last year alongside my accountant and got a close enough figure to decide to go it alone this year. TT does make it fairly easy for you but is a bit irritating when you want to change a single figure and still have to wade through several questions which you've already answered and don't want to change - mileage being one of them.

It also prompts you for stuff that you might not immediately think of. I underpaid tax in 2013 so got a nice big bill in April 2014 - and putting that figure in to the appropriate field got me a nice chunk off the amount I have underpaid this year :cool::(:cool::(. Then it calculates the underpayment fine for you ($15) and asks you a bunch of stuff that might reduce that figure further.

Luckily I don't have inventory/stock so that bit's a bit simpler for me. I do have subbies from time to time but they're abroad so that is - perhaps surprisingly - easier too.

Probably the hardest part is getting SWMBO to remember to keep receipts for anything relevant, keep track of any education she pays for, stuff like that. :(

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

& keep a written record of all miles/ tolls, it's one of the questions 'do you have written evidence to support?'

Re: Business mileage tax deduction
 

I worked in aviation back in the UK. Hoping to resume my career over here, but I only have a piddly little airport. A possible move to the Bay Area will hopefully see a few more opportunities in my field. I have my own little business going but I'm in too rural an area for it to be a full time thing unfortunately.