I am trying to make sure that I understand what ‘business miles’ are, if they apply to my situations described below, and how to document them in a way that the IRS needs. I will be using Schedule C to report the profit or loss from this business.
At my house I make or repair items that I later sell at a large formal flea market.
1) When I go to the flea market, several times a week, I leave from my home. Can the mileage to and from the flea market be ‘business miles’ that can be deducted?
2) Some days, either before or after going to the flea market, I stop at resale stores, like Goodwill, to buy items to fix up and resell. On these days can the mileage be deducted as 'business miles'?
3) I keep track of the trip mileage as follows: For the starting miles, I write down the odometer mileage on a calendar before I leave the house. For the ending miles, I write down the odometer miles when I return home. I also write down each place I stop, i.e. the resale shops, flea market, etc. Will this be the correct way to document the miles?
4) Looking at line 44 a-c on Schedule C: The miles used on this schedule C relate ONLY to the flea market business. Because the starting & ending points for my trips are my home the commuting miles would be zero. Correct?
The business miles will be the yearly total of the miles as done in 3 above.
The result of adding the business, commuting, and other miles should equal the total miles for that vehicle for the year.
For example: if the business miles are 1,000 and the total miles for the year for the vehicle are 15,000 then show the business miles as 1,000, commuting miles as zero, and the other miles as 14,000. Correct?
Thanks for your help.
