DawnC
Expert Alumni

Business & farm

You should have both cars listed in the Vehicle Expense section with the dates you used of each of them.  You can take the standard mileage on one and the actual expenses on the other or vice versa depending on what you have done in the past, see more below.   And there are some car expenses you can claim in addition to the standard mileage rate (interest on an auto loan, registration and property tax fees, and parking and tolls).   You have to enter the mileage (even if you are taking actual expenses) to calculate the business use percentage.    

 

If you want to use the standard mileage rate to calculate vehicle expenses, you must choose it in the first year you use the car for business. In later years you can choose to use the standard mileage rate or switch to actual expenses.

 

Once you use actual expenses for the vehicle (even if it's the first year you used it for business), you can't switch to standard mileage rate. You must continue using actual expenses as long as you use that car for business.

 

If you use the standard mileage rate, you must have records of business versus personal miles driven.   If you use actual expenses, you must have records of all expenses and must allocate those between business and personal use.

 

Standard Mileage vs. Actual Expenses   @wgfpd154

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