Can I claim a lease if I am reimbursed for mileage

[mtnwmn]

OK, so I can claim a deduction for business use of a leased vehicle (e.g. lease payments) per TTax answer, but how do I account for the reimbursement of mileage by employer?

[MichaelDC]

After you've entered the expenses, TurboTax will ask for the reimbursement information. At that point, enter all the reimbursements for the year that are usually accounted for in a separate check at the end of the month. You may have a different plan.

[jefferycoker]

if your employer reimburses for mileage (let's say the same rate as the full standard amount) can you deduct the lease payments themselves if you're leasing the car yourself (and you only use the car for business - combo of employee work and independent contractor work)?

[MichaelDC]

Yes. Whether it helps you on your taxes is another matter.

One factor in the decision is how much per mile you get reimbursed. Another is how expensive is your car to maintain.

It's best to have TurboTax decide what's best for your situation:

Go to Federal Taxes,

Click Deductions and Credits, 

Select I'll choose what I work on 

Select Job-Related Expenses under Employment Expenses. 

Enter ALL business miles driven and vehicle information first in the interview questions. Try entering the actual expenses (gas, oil, lease payments, insurance, etc). Then, it will ask for reimbursement information.

You can potentially write off the mileage driven for work minus the mileage you were reimbursed for if your company didn't reimburse you the full standard amount. If you are an employee and receive a W-2, you can deduct unreimbursed vehicle expenses as job expenses, but you must be able to itemize your deductions

For instance, the IRS standard mileage rate is $.54/mile. If you drove 100 miles ($54 at the standard IRS rate) but the company only reimbursed you $38.00, you could deduct the additional $16 as an unreimbursed business expense. Even then, only the amount above 2% of your adjusted gross income is deductible.

Note:  You cannot deduct the miles you commute to and from work, or any expenses you were reimbursed.