topic How should I recored miles driven to and from medical appointments? I see this can benefit my taxes in the future if done correctly this next year... how is it done? in Deductions & credits

How should I recored miles driven to and from medical appointments? I see this can benefit my taxes in the future if done correctly this next year... how is it done?

schluffj — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 19:57:49 GMT

I drive to many medical appointments but am unsure how to best provide evidence of this? Gas receipts? or just recording the milage by writing it down?

Re: How should I recored miles driven to and from medical appointments? I see this can benefit my...

MinhT1 — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 20:17:10 GMT

To claim medical miles, you need to keep a log of miles driven for medical purposes. This could be in any format, but a spreadsheet with the date, the itinerary and the distance driven and the reason would suffice.

Re: How should I recored miles driven to and from medical appointments? I see this can benefit my taxes in the future if done correctly this next year... how is it done?

Opus 17 — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 20:25:13 GMT

You can do a notebook in your car, or a spreadsheet, or something similar. What the IRS would want to see is the date, mileage driven, and purpose of the trip. The IRS will also want to know that the log was kept contemporaneously with the trips -- in other words, the log was written when the event was reasonably fresh in your mind and you weren't trying to fill it all out in December retroactive to January.

Since for medical expense deduction you can only deduct a flat 17¢ per mile, there's no point in writing down gas purchases.

You can, however, include road tolls and parking on top of the mileage, so make sure to note those as well.