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See IRS publication 463 in chapter 4.
https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-463
Generally, assets (property with a useful life of more than one year) must be depreciated, or deducted, over the expected life of the property.
For a car, you choose between 2 methods of deducting your expenses, the standard mileage rate or the actual expense method. With the standard mileage rate, you deduct a certain amount per mile driven for business use (currently 65.5 cents per mile although the IRS updates this figure once or twice a year). You must have a mileage diary, log or app that tracks the date, business purpose, and amount of the mileage. The standard rate includes allowances for fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance, and depreciation.
With the exact expense method, you must still track your business miles as well as keep track of the total miles driven. You also track all your vehicle expenses (fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance, and depreciation), and you can deduct a percentage of expenses equal to the percentage of business miles drive. For example, if you drive 10,000 miles for Uber and 6,000 miles for personal use, your business percentage is 62.5%.
If you use the vehicle more than 50% for business, there may be ways of claiming the depreciation faster. But this gets very complicated if your percentage of business use changes in future years, and you may have to pay back some of the depreciation deduction you claimed if your business use changes.
Most people will do better with the standard mileage rate, although it depends on the exact cost of the car and how long you plan to keep using it in business.
If you are new to being self employed, are not incorporated or in a partnership and are acting as your own bookkeeper and tax preparer you need to get educated ....
If you have net self employment income of $400 or more you have to file a schedule C in your personal 1040 return for self employment business income. You may get a 1099-NEC for some of your income but you need to report all your income. So you need to keep your own good records. Here is some reading material……
IRS information on Self Employment….
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Self-Employed-Individuals-Tax-Center
Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p334.pdf
Publication 535 Business Expenses
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p535.pdf
Home Office Expenses … Business Use of the Home
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/home-office-deduction
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p587.pdf
*****Publication 463 Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses*****
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdf
Publication 946 … Depreciation
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p946.pdf
See IRS publication 463 in chapter 4.
https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-463
Generally, assets (property with a useful life of more than one year) must be depreciated, or deducted, over the expected life of the property.
For a car, you choose between 2 methods of deducting your expenses, the standard mileage rate or the actual expense method. With the standard mileage rate, you deduct a certain amount per mile driven for business use (currently 65.5 cents per mile although the IRS updates this figure once or twice a year). You must have a mileage diary, log or app that tracks the date, business purpose, and amount of the mileage. The standard rate includes allowances for fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance, and depreciation.
With the exact expense method, you must still track your business miles as well as keep track of the total miles driven. You also track all your vehicle expenses (fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance, and depreciation), and you can deduct a percentage of expenses equal to the percentage of business miles drive. For example, if you drive 10,000 miles for Uber and 6,000 miles for personal use, your business percentage is 62.5%.
If you use the vehicle more than 50% for business, there may be ways of claiming the depreciation faster. But this gets very complicated if your percentage of business use changes in future years, and you may have to pay back some of the depreciation deduction you claimed if your business use changes.
Most people will do better with the standard mileage rate, although it depends on the exact cost of the car and how long you plan to keep using it in business.
Can I take straight line depreciation or other method over 5 years on a car and ignore the two methods you outlined?
If not 5, what is the correct asset life for an auto?
@fanfare wrote:
Can I take straight line depreciation or other method over 5 years on a car and ignore the two methods you outlined?
If not 5, what is the correct asset life for an auto?
You can't ignore the two methods, but if you use the actual expense method, you may have different options for calculating the depreciation, including Section 179 and something other than straight line.
This also affects your future deduction choices.
If, in the first year you place the car in service, you use the actual expense method (with any method to calculate depreciation) you must use the actual expense method in future years (sticking with your chosen method of depreciation) and can never switch to the standard mileage method.
If you use the standard mileage method in the first year, you can switch back and forth from the standard rate to the actual expense method in future years. But if in one of those years, you calculate depreciation by any method other than straight line, you are locked into the actual expense method for future years. (Calculating the deprecation when you switch back and forth from the standard rate to the actual expense method is challenging and tricky, as well.)
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