Married filing jointly, car that I use for work and business is on my wife name. For mileage deduction, Should I choose "I own the vehicle" or "This vehicle isn't mine"?

[rksukhani11]

So we have 2 cars. One I drive is on my wife's name and one she drives is on my name. And as I looked back on my past year's return, I mentioned that very same car as not owning it.
So do i need to amend my last years tax return? Or I can say that from this year it has become my primary vehicle and I can go ahead with filing it as OWNING? Help will be appreciated. Thanks

[MichaelDC]

There's no doubt that, between you and your wife, you own the vehicle. Look back at last years tax return and see what your vehicle deduction was. You probably need to amend the return if you said that you didn't own it.

If you do not own or lease the vehicle you can't use the standard mileage rate.  That's because the standard mileage rate includes an allowance for depreciation (wear and tear) and only the owner or lessor is allowed to claim that.

Also, if you don't own the vehicle, your actual expenses will be under-reported, missing the depreciation.

Of course, this year you should say that you own it. Note if there's is a noticeable difference in deductions, all things being equal.