topic Business vehicle expenses in Business & farm

Business vehicle expenses

jlabw7 — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 23:45:38 GMT

In years past using turbo tax, when keying in my business vehicle information, I would key in total mileage and then all vehicle expenses and it would determine if it's better to use mileage deduction or actual expense. This year, I'm not being prompted to key in business vehicle expenses. Any suggestions?

Re: Business vehicle expenses

Vanessa A — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 19:16:38 GMT

This is in the same place as last year. Be sure you are in the business income and expenses section.
As you walk through the business expense section, you should come to a screen that says expenses. There you will be able to select vehicle expenses. If you had vehicle expenses last year, and are using TurboTax Online, it should also ask you on the summary screen for your business if this still applies. You can click the pencil next to the vehicle.

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Re: Business vehicle expenses

TerpTax13 — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 14:23:53 GMT

I agree with the original writer of this question. It nowhere allows me to type in my actual vehicle expenses, like oil change, new tire, etc. Allows me to put in miles, and that is about it. Does not give me a field to put in car insurance. Something is wrong here.

Re: Business vehicle expenses

KrisD15 — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 16:35:07 GMT

Please be patient and revisit that section at a later date.

Entering Actual expenses for a business vehicle are connected to using the depreciation schedule Form 4562 which is being updated for some tax changes.

Please use this link to receive an email when that form is ready.

Re: Business vehicle expenses

jdk01 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 20:34:06 GMT

When I enter vehicle actual expenses, they add up to 2500+, then I fill in the second page for tolls and car loan interest. It only seems to be using the latter items in summing up the vehicle expenses. The car is used for 8100+ business miles, so the gas, oil, and maintenance costs should all apply. The car (bought in 2021) has probably been fully depreciated by now, but real expenses should still count! Something is wrong (this is using the online version of TurboTax)

Re: Business vehicle expenses

AmeliesUncle — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 22:49:06 GMT

@jdk01 wrote:
When I enter vehicle actual expenses, they add up to 2500+,

The car is used for 8100+ business miles

the car (bought in 2021) has probably been fully depreciated by now,

It sounds like it is trying to use the Standard Mileage Rate. Does it qualify for the Standard Mileage Rate (was the Standard Mileage Rate used in the first year it was placed in service)?

Re: Business vehicle expenses

jdk01 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 22:56:39 GMT

I had to use the help/Q&A inside turbo tax to determine whether to use standard deduction or actual expenses. It turns out that, since we put the car in service in 2021 and used actual expenses then (i.e., we used Schedule C and Form 4562), I was instructed that I "had" to use actual expenses every year after that. Perhaps of note, when I was working through the online prompts, I *first* did answer that I had used standard deduction before (since I didn't recall for sure) but later went back and changed from std deduction to actual expenses, as I later determined I was required to do. Could the old answer have been "cached" in the online forms, such that I need to do "more work" to force it to calculate actual expenses?

Re: Business vehicle expenses

AmeliesUncle — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 23:02:47 GMT

@jdk01 wrote:
I *first* did answer that I had used standard deduction before (since I didn't recall for sure) but later went back and changed from std deduction to actual expenses, as I later determined I was required to do. Could the old answer have been "cached" in the online forms, such that I need to do "more work" to force it to calculate actual expenses?

Yes, I suspect that is what is happening. Unfortunately, I have seen MANY posts that indicate that TurboTax frequently does not 'accept' a changed answer and is 'stuck' on the original answer. I am unsure how to get around that program error.