Thank you DavidD66,
I'm having trouble informing the software that my vehicle is a personal vehicle with <50% business use rather than a vehicle purchased and used solely for a business - though I'm familiar with Schedule C standard vs itemized vehicle expenses, i seek clarification for Schedule C Vehicle Expense Deductions (Std vs Itemized) for vehicle with <50% business use.
1. Should I add up the entire year's worth of vehicle mileage and expenses for gas, oil, tires, repairs, tolls/parking fees, ad valorem registration fees, etc. and report the annual total to be used as the basis for applying the % business use calculated (ie: business miles/total miles percent x months of use / 12 )?
Seems logical the % business use calculated is used to against the entire year expenses when determining the business use deduction for vehicle used < 50% - which may be greater than standard 0.67 / mile deduction for some.
2. Seeking to confirm I cannot take the 179 depreciation deduction as it is a personal vehicle used occasionally for business , is not > 50% business use, and doesn't meet criteria for 179.
3. Can I depreciate a personal vehicle used for business with < 50% business use by using straight line MACRS depreciation over say, 3, or 5 years as recommended for vehicles? Or is the MACRS depreciation method meant strictly for vehicles owned/used by business (not a personal vehicle w/ <50% business use)?
I've been reading the IRS publications noting the math/calc is fairly easy, but the logic/explanation for how they derived the above concepts is not clear - noting the software doesn't do a great job explaining how (lacks prompts) business use is calculated, when you can use it, or explaining what qualifies for 179 deduction and what doesn't - as if we're supposed to know when prompted to enter values/amounts.
