Vehicle mileage deduction in TT Business

[shresra]

How do I take the vehicle mileage deduction in TT Business? It only gives you the option to enter actual expenses. There's a section to include miles, but it's for informational purposes only.

Do we self calculate based on the standard mileage deduction and enter as a vehicle expense?

Thanks!

[VictoriaD75]

If you opted to use the actual cost method in the first year, the standard mileage deduction is not available for any subsequent year. Does this happen to be the case?

The software will calculate the standard mileage deduction based on the rate for the applicable tax year. You do not need to enter that information. You must, however, enter the miles and indicate that you kept mileage logs. If you did not maintain documentation of the business miles driven, the deduction is disallowed.

Business Use of Vehicles

[shresra]

Glad i saw your reply- thought i would get a notification. 

I don't believe i've ever entered actual vehicle expenses- it's always been mileage. But i don't seem to see that option anymore. I might have to stick with actual expenses then. 

Thanks!

[ART05]

Basically my question I just asked with an extra twist of the different cars belonging to different owners.  For sure I never deducted actual costs, they would be a nightmare.  And since I was never offered how to deduct mileage, it looks like I never deducted vehicle expense in some 5yrs.  It's about 20% of profits so quite a bit of money lost.  Like original Q is asking, how do we get the mileage in? I found a place with a kind of a miscellaneous entry but it looks weird with no other vehicle expenses.  Audit red flag?

[ART05]

TT Business, 2022:

"You must track the actual expenses paid to use a vehicle for business."

I've been using TT For Business for about 5yrs, never seen different than this and missed $500-$1,000 in mileage costs each year because actual records are impossible due to cash purchase, lifetime registration fees, diy maintenance, plus the usual stuff.

[KrisD15]

You have a choice the first year (the year the business vehicle is placed in service) to use Actual Expenses or Standard Mileage. 

If you choose Actual Expenses the first year, you no longer have an option to use Standard Mileage after that. 

You always need to track actual expenses for all business expenses. The same is true for Income, the IRS does not expect you to report a "Ballpark" figure when reporting Schedule C.

I know very few areas where the IRS allows "estimates" to be made. 

Keep a notebook in the vehicle. 

DIY maintenance is on you, you can't deduct your own personal labor as a business expense, although you can expense parts. 

Fees are usually expenses for the year the fee is paid. 

If keeping track of actual expenses is too hard, use the Standard Mileage Rate. 

You can amend prior returns if the addition of the vehicle expenses will result in additional refunds. 

Going forward, you need to keep track of the mileage and depreciation you take because there may be "Depreciation Recapture" when you sell the vehicle or the business use drops to less than 50%. 

According to the IRS:

“To use the actual expense method, you must determine what it actually costs to operate the car for the portion of the overall use of the car that's business use. Include gas, oil, repairs, tires, insurance, registration fees, licenses, and depreciation (or lease payments) attributable to the portion of the total miles driven that are business miles.”

[ART05]

Hello, there is a big problem.  I just spent close to an hour on the phone with TT help who had access to view my PC screen.  TT Business does not offer chance to add or delete vehicles, nor does it offer to use mileage for vehicles.  I have used TT Business for about 6yrs.  There is a help drop down box that says only actual expenses can be used.  6 years ago I thought that meant that TT Business cannot use mileage so for all of those years I paid higher taxes not deducting my business vehicle expenses.  Now we are learning that TT Business has a big problem for many years.  As others have said very clearly, this is not a problem of selecting Actual Expenses the first year because the choice was never offered and the vehicle is not in the tax file.  My 1st business vehicle was totaled years ago, I'm on the third new business use vehicles and none are in my tax file because there is never an option to add them.  I have deductible vehicles associated with my 1040 filings for some 20yrs, I know all of those details very well......they are missing in TT Business, Form 1065.

Understand this and read the other TT Business stnd mileage questions, these are the details, not wrong selection 1st year.

[ART05]

Forgot to mention Case # is [phone number removed]

[ART05]

Look at that, TT deleted the CASE #.  TT should never issue 10 digit case numbers.  Try again [PII removed]

[PatriciaV]

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