Deducting Mileage for Same Vehicle on Different Schedule C's and What to Report as Placed In Service Date on Each

[shebedo]

My husband and I share ownership of our multiple cars.  We are both self employed with multiple businesses and this year we used the same vehicle part time and tracked mileage separately for our businesses.  I have always driven and written off mileage associated with my Real Estate business since 2019 for our Honda Van.   On my Schedule C the vehicle information says placed in service as 2019.  My husband started working for a logisitics company as a self employed courier/delivery driver business in 2023 and used the Honda Van for a month before he bought a fuel efficient hybrid car and also used the Van during the winter months occasionally.  When entering the Honda Van on his Schedule C, do I put the Placed in Service Date as the date we started using it for any business which was 2019, or the date he started using it for the new courier service business which would be 2023 ?    Total mileage is reported the same in each Schedule C with the tracked mileage for each of our busineses reported separately.  For example 15,000 Total Miles reported driven on both Schedule C's, with 4,000 Business Miles on Real Estate Schedule C and 3,000 Business Miles on Courier Schedule C.  The Honda Van has always been reported and deducted on all Schedule C's in the past at the standard mileage rate.

[tagteam]

Do you use the standard mileage rate? In that case it probably makes no difference.

You need to get the depreciation deduction correct on the return and that will automatically occur if you enter the date the vehicle was placed in service for that business.

I'm going to page Champ @Mike9241 for input.

[shebedo]

Yes always used the Mileage Rate and will be this year also for both businesses.  This is an older mini-van.  Just wondering if it would look wrong on return with the same car and mileage being listed with 2 different Placed In Service Dates.

[tagteam]

I'm going to wait for @Mike9241, but my thought is that you and your husband do have two separate businesses and file two separate Schedules C so that would seem to serve to justify the two different dates.

[Opus 17]

I agree. I would not try to account for the fact that the vehicle is used by both businesses.  If spouse A started using the van in 2019 and spouse B started using it in 2023, that's what you would put on the schedule Cs.

This assumes you are using the standard mileage rate and these are personally owned vehicles that are sometimes used for spouse A's business, sometimes used for spouse B's business, and sometimes used for personal use.  If the vehicle(s) was/were owned by one of the businesses, or if you were using the exact expense method which includes separate depreciation, I think things would be a lot more complicated.

Of course, each business only deducts the miles that business put on the vehicle, you can't double dip on the mileage.  And, whenever you sell the vehicles, you will have to account for the total business mileage from both businesses when you calculate any depreciation that must be recaptured.  

[Mike9241]

since you're using the standard mileage rate, the date in service doesn't affect the mileage deduction, but one must be entered because it's simply the business miles times the rate for that year. if you used a vehicle for one business say starting in 2019 but for the other in 2023 use 2019 for that schedule c and 2023 for the other

when you fill out worksheets for multiple vehicles for a business, there will be a supplemental report included which will shows the PART IV info for each vehicle which reports the in-service date