kEEPING RECORDS FOR TAXES

With the price of gas fluctuating the way it is, do I have to keep track of each gasoline purchase and figure out how much was used for business and how much for personal use in order to deduct a business expense for it?

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cpstandre,
All you need is a daily record of miles driven for shops and miles driven for other purposes PLUS a list of all car expenses. At the end of the year, compute the percentage of your mileage that was for business and use that to compute the percentage of car expenses to claim.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Note that you have a choice of EITHER claiming mileage OR claiming actual expenses. You determine how your vehicle will be treated the first year you file. Mileage is generally the best way to go if you keep a vehicle for more than a few years, though if you lease a vehicle you should read through the IRS material to see which makes more sense for you. As a shopper some of my gas is 'free' as reimbursements on shops (and so I can't also claim it as a vehicle expense) and all of my oil changes are paid for by reimbursements.

If you claim mileage you can ALSO claim tolls and paid parking incurred for your business. Otherwise yes, you will need to determine what mileage was personal and what was business miles. If you have another job you will also need to figure 'commuting' miles to that work. I only have 'personal' and 'business'. I record my mileage Jan 1 every year and the difference from the previous year is total mileage. I subtract out my documented 'business' miles and everything else is 'personal'.
Keep in mind that the reimbursement for most shops is small--usually in the range of $1-$5. Often it is for a specified item to be purchased. So as a general statement, you are more likely to find small quantities of gas or groceries than you are to find toys and clothing as reimbursed items. Of course every dollar of groceries you are reimbursed is one less dollar that you have to eke out of the household budget to buy groceries. This alone is helpful in making purchases of needs you can't find paid for by shops.

As for kids and toys . . . luckily when my twins were small we were in hand-me-down chains for both. I got really good with stain removers :-)
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