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determining mileage?....

November 12, 2012 01:40AM
I have a question that I cannot find an answer for in other threads.
I have never used an actual mileage deduction before, but need to with MSing...With DHs business, we just do a percentage of personal/business.

Figuring out MS mileage at home is easy, but if we go on vacation, and I'd like to make a little fuel money on the way, how do I figure out how much mileage I can count as a deduction. Also, how do you all keep track of your miles? Do you just keep a hodge-podge list of odometer readings in a little spiral notebook, or meticulous listings of dates/times/jobs in a spreadsheet (I can say right out that that wouldn't work for me! ROFL!!!)... HELP!!! I would love advice as I really need the deduction, and don't want an accounting nightmare if I ever get audited...

TIA! You cannot imagine how helpful this forum has been to me. I so appreciate you pros sharing your knowledge! I am having so much fun shopping, but it wouldn't have been such smooth sailing getting started without your advice via all these threads! smiling smiley
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More About Mystery Shopping Taxes
November 12, 2012 02:24AM
Blessdx11, I use the trip odometer function on my car to record the mileage of each shop. If I have 4-5 in one day, then I just do the total milege for that route. And yes, I have a spreadsheet set up that automatically adds each mileage entry, I also have a year end summary so then I get the milege for each month added, along with the IRS allowance. It's not really that hard to do.

I'm not an accountant, but my CPA told me that the IRS would use the "intent" of the trip to determine deductability. As an independent contractor, I doubt you could consider the entire trip's mileage, but let's say you reached your destination, and while there drove 200 miles doing shops. You should be able to deduct those 200 miles.

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November 12, 2012 04:53AM
When I am away from home, I choose the distance between where I am staying the place being shopped.

Quicken Home & Business has a good mileage tracking tool built in. You can attach mileage records to specific jobs.

I also recommend this version of Quicken because it makes record keeping effortless for mystery shopping. I attach pictures of all my receipts to reimbursable transactions. And, I attach PDFs of my shop reports to my shop invoices.
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November 12, 2012 12:57PM
First, a daily mileage record, kept in a little notebook, for all trips, will be accepted by the IRS, as long as it is "contemporaneous." That means, written as the events occurred.

Next, for vacation shops, it depends on how much of each day really is devoted to business. If
i use an hotel shops with a written report on my vacation, that day's mileage can be counted as business; if I just stop and do a gas/convenience store, and no other shops, during a day, I would not take any business miles except for the few miles I might have gone out of my way to get to that shop. I stay with a family member when I travel to do shops about 250 miles from home. Since I shop on the routes up and back, and do day trips to shop while I am there, I claim mileage. BUT, if I run some personal errands while there, or use my car for sightseeing, those are logged as personal miles. I learned these distinctions by attending tax several seminars for independent contractors over the years and by reading the latest IRS publications on the specific subject. I have been audited and this was not an issue in any way. (Nor was anything else on my returns.) I am not an accountant or an attorney, so check this all out for yourself.

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