Of the two ways to handle car expenses (standard mileage $.54/mile and actual expenses), the actual method may be best for you even with the reimbursement.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/5686909
Here are some of the items you can include in your deduction:
- A portion of your lease payment (if you are
leasing your vehicle)
- Auto loan interest (if you’re financing the purchase of your vehicle)
- Auto Insurance
- Maintenance and Repairs (like oil changes, new tires,
replacing brake pads, etc.)
- Depreciation
Example You drove
10,000 miles in the year 2016, and 5,000 of those miles were for business.
Here’s how you would break down your deductions using the Actual Expenses
method:
- Gas: $1,000
- Insurance: $1,500
- Repairs: $400
- Lease Payments: $6,000
- Oil: $100
- Car Wash: $500
These figures total to $9,500 in car-related expenses. Since
you used your car for business purposes 50% of the time, you would multiply
your total expenses by 50% to get your actual deduction, which comes out to
$4,750.
If you use these same figures to calculate your reimbursement
using the Standard Mileage method, you would multiply your business mileage
(5,000 miles) by the standard mileage rate (54 cents per mile), which comes out
to $2,700.
This would leave you with a net deduction of $2,050
($4,750-$2,700) by using the Actual Expenses method for the deduction.
Of course, your mileage may vary, but TurboTax will allow you
to easily determine whether this is a good strategy for you.
