Business Deductions
- Amortization
- Business Losses and Net Operating Losses
- Car and Truck Expenses
- Day-Care Services
- Depreciating Business Property
- Depreciating Your Car
- Domestic Production Activities Deduction
- Health Insurance Deduction
- Home Office Deduction
- Meal and Entertainment Expenses
- Organizational Costs and Start-up Costs
- Qualified Plan Awards
- Schedule C Expenses
- Section 197 Intangibles
- Should You Sell or Trade in Your Car?
- Start-up Costs
- Travel Expenses
More Tax Topics
- Business Structures
- Hiring Workers
- Retirement
- Top Tax Myths
- Per Diem Rates - IRS Publication 1542 Oct 2011 for Travel Within the Continental U.S (for employers who pay a per diem allowance to employees)
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Need Some Deductions for 2011?
Don't overlook these!
Updated for 2011
Small Business Deductions: Car and Truck Expenses
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Schedule C and Car Expenses
Schedule C, Part IV, provides a place to enter certain information about your vehicle if you used it for business purposes.
For example, When did you place your vehicle in service for business purposes? Do you have evidence to support your deduction?
You must also enter your annual mileage for business, commuting, and other purposes.
Mileage Log
It's important to keep a mileage log. Without written evidence of your business miles, your deduction may be disallowed if audited.
Break it down into monthly business miles traveled. At year-end, just add up each month's business miles traveled to find total business miles traveled for the year.
Your mileage log should include:
- Beginning odometer reading
- Dates traveled
- Names of clients/customers visited
- Business purpose of trips
- Miles traveled on each trip
- Ending odometer reading
Mileage Sampling
If you have a pattern of business use, the IRS may allow you to record your mileage for a representative part of the year instead of the whole year (e.g., four months).
This may be the case if you tend to visit the same clients and do little driving soliciting new clients.
Next:
Car Expenses: Switching From the Mileage Allowance Method to the Actual Expense Method; Leased Vehicles
Related Links
- Turning Commuting Mileage into Deductible Business Expenses
- Hybrid Vehicles
- Phaseout Rule for Hybrid Vehicles
- Qualifying for the Hybrid Credit
- Phaseout of Hybrid Credit
- Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
- Audit Proofing Your Car Deduction
- Tracking Business Miles
- Estimates of Car and Truck Expenses
- Electric Cars
- Annual Depreciation Limits for Electric Cars
- Should You Sell or Trade in Your Vehicle?
- Computing Basis of New Vehicle When Trading In Old Vehicle
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