Claim unreimbursed mileage?

[malonejd]

I work for an education nonprofit, traveling from my home to area schools to provide services. All office work is done at home, but my home office doesn't qualify as such because it is not used exclusively for this purpose. I am reimbursed for mileage above 58 miles traveled per day. Can I claim the unreimbursed mileage, and if so, how?

[MichaelDC · Accepted solution]

This is how to enter your partially reimbursed mileage. A short explanation follows.

Enter all your business miles and expenses here:

·         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. Then, it will ask for reimbursement information.

You can potentially write off the mileage driven for work minus the mileage you were reimbursed for. As an employee, 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 10,000 miles ($5,400 at the standard 2016 IRS rate) but the company only reimbursed you $4000, you could deduct the additional $1,400 as an unreimbursed business expense. Of course, you would enter your additional business expenses (cell phone, office supplies, Meals & Entertainment).

If you own a fairly expensive vehicle or lease it and you drive a high percentage for business use, you may consider take the actual expenses instead of the standard mileage rate. The reimbursement would be the same.