This is complicated.
There used to be 2 places to deduct car expenses as clergy. The first is as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% rule. This deduction was eliminated in tax reform.
The second place is to deduct your mileage against your income subject to self-employment tax on Schedule SE. You need to be using the desktop program installed on your own computer, and you have to calculate the amount yourself and make a manual entry. Note that making manual entries voids the accuracy guarantee.
First, you have to determine the deductible amount according to the Deason rule. If you have a housing allowance or live in a parsonage, you have to adjust your deduction based on your percentage of taxable income. Suppose you have a taxable salary of $20,000 and your housing allowance or parsonage is valued at $30,000. Since only 40% of your income is considered taxable, you can only deduct 40% of your work expenses, this is called the Deason rule.
Mileage is at 54.5 cents per mile. You have to calculate your own mileage deduction and then adjust it by the Deason rule. Then click the forms icon to switch to Forms mode, and locate Schedule SE Adjustment Worksheet (Schedule SE Adj Wks). You enter your deductible expenses on line 5c.
The IRS requires that if you deduct expenses in this way, you can't e-file. You are supposed to print and file by mail, and attach a written statement explaining how you determined the amount of your adjustment.
