Posted by terrie/IN on 3/16/11 5:17pm
Msg #376397

confused on mileage for tax purposes

can someone explain to me how they keep track. I was told that if a closing is 10 miles away I can not count the first 10 miles because I am coming from home and that does not qualify for business miles. I thought if the closing was 10 miles and round trip would be another 10 that would make a total of 20 miles. I am confused about this. They said i could only count miles from the first closing to the next. Well i do this part time and I may only have one closing in a evening. How is everyone else doing this.

Reply by ikando on 3/16/11 5:38pm
Msg #376399

Who is "they"?

Reply by John Schenk on 3/16/11 5:45pm
Msg #376400

Find a different "they" to talk to. LOL

My mileage starts when I turn over the engine, and that's to and from the signing, as well as the drop of the docs to the carrier. I write down every 1/10th.

JJ

Reply by nolanotary on 3/16/11 5:51pm
Msg #376403

If your office is your home, any miles you drive from your home (office) to closing and other related business (post office, FedEx, Kinkos, etc.) is business.

If you have an office away from home, the miles you drive to your office and back is commuting miles and, in most cases, not deductible.

I agree with the others...you should find a better tax advisor.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 3/16/11 7:31pm
Msg #376416

Check with a COMPETENT tax professional, because I think you've being given the wrong information. There's no 10 mile rule that I'm aware of, and the rules are different if you work from home vs travel to an office and work from there.

Reply by JulieD/KS on 3/16/11 10:56pm
Msg #376430

It sounds like someone is confusing business miles with commuting miles. If you work from home, you can deduct all your miles that you drive for business; that includes driving to FedEx, driving to Office Depot, driving your checks to the bank, and anything else you do for your business.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 3/17/11 4:09am
Msg #376441

I agree with the others that you're getting some bad info. It's my understanding that any travel from your PRIMARY PLACE OF BUSINESS and back is deductible. If your primary place of business is your home, then once you leave there to another location for business purposes, that mileage would be deductible, as would any additional business-related stops. Any non-business related travel would not be deductible, of course. Also, if you have your primary place of business in an office located elsewhere, your travel to and from that office would be considered commuting mileage, and NOT deductible.

I heard a few years back that the IRS was targeting people (like doctors, for example) who were claiming what should be commuting mileage because they kept an office in their home, but if it wasn't their PRIMARY office, just somewhere where they did work sometimes, it wasn't deductible. I'd guess that that's not the case for most of us.

Reply by taxpro on 3/17/11 12:27pm
Msg #376496

All above posts are correct, and there is one more aspect to this. If this is your second "job", even though you're self employed, you could deduct these miles anyway, because you've already commuted to your first job that day.

Even if this is your only job, you can deduct all miles from your primary business location. If that's your home, start counting miles from your driveway. I work from an office location, so I don't count the miles to my office and back, but I count all other business related miles.

Reply by Baragona/MO on 3/18/11 2:17am
Msg #376579

My accountant gave me a log where I put every f'n mile I drive as business. Sorry to be rude, but there is no way I am going to try to figure out what is not worthy for business in regards to signings. Once I leave the driveway going to the signing, that is business!

Reply by terrie/IN on 3/18/11 9:46am
Msg #376594

thank you everyone for your input. I will start counting miles from my driveway to the closing and back.