What is a proper amount to ask for milage? There is a shop, but I would have to drive 5 1/2 hours round trip and 350 miles. The base for the shop is only $19.00, but they say name yourprice. I'm fairly new to this and have no idea what to ask for. Thanks, Bob.

A lot of people ask for $1 a mile but if I'm not doing anything else then I would prefer the work than sitting at home so I have a calculator that works out how much my gas is for the trip and pay at $15 an hour. For 350 miles and 5.5 hours I would ask an additional $118.00 for that trip. You have to realize though that the extra costs on your vehicle such as wear on your tires is at your own expense. If they aren't prepared to pay it then no great loss huh?

I should add that my vehicle gets 35 mpg. Just take the total miles (350) divide it by how many mpg your vehicle gets then multiply it by the going rate for gas in your area. So if you vehicle gets 30 mpg and gas is $3.50 per gallon then it would be 350/30*3.50 = $41 in gas.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2014 06:42PM by jpgilham.

My vehicle gets 43 mpg. I ask for .80 per mile.

In a situation like this, I would look at their other open assignments along the way, and request moderate bonuses on those as well as this one. I would not ask for travel pay on a small shop like this.

I would not ask for travel pay on such a small shop at such a great distance UNLESS I was making a route of a large number of shaops, each having a small travel bonus. I would also negotiate extended report deadlines for all of the shops.

Federal mileage reimbursement is $.568/mile so that is a good place to start, but $1 mile for that shop would be nice , that would cover your mileage and time spent driving.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2014 09:49PM by RIMS.

It's 56.5 cents per mile, I think you made a typo there.

I believe it is actually $.56 per mile for 2014. It was $.565 in 2013.

Sorry, this may be the wrong thread to post in, but when a MSC gives distance pay, I am assuming this is considered as a "bonus" to your fee – thus, it is taxable. Does this amount of distance need to cancel out with the miles x IRS rate to avoid double-dipping in your taxes?

I'd ask for more jobs along the road AND a room for the night. Very serious!

Tarantado Wrote:
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> Sorry, this may be the wrong thread to post in,
> but when a MSC gives distance pay, I am assuming
> this is considered as a "bonus" to your fee –
> thus, it is taxable. Does this amount of distance
> need to cancel out with the miles x IRS rate to
> avoid double-dipping in your taxes?

Your tax computation:

Take all the money you got from the MSC

Subtract all the money you paid out for reimbursements

Take a mileage deduction based on 56.5 cents per mile *or* do the actual expense thing which includes gas, oil, insurance,
depreciation, repairs based on the percentage of that vehicles total miles that you drove it for mystery shops.

You need to report everything you got from the MSC as income. There is no double dipping involved. Everything you get from them is income, and you deduct your expenses from the income to come up with the taxable amount.


(Yes, you can "not count" the reimbursements as either income or expense, but it is so much easier and cleaner to track if you just track income in one column, required paid outs in another column, and mileage in its own column. Some MSCs include the reimbursements on the 1099; some don't. Some don't actually reimburse. They give you a flat fee and you buy your own pizza. Some only reimburse; there is no fee. Keep it simple. You also need to know that if you pay for something you should be reimbursed for, and they deny the shop and don't pay you, what you paid out is still a deduction, as is your mileage. If you just figure, "I won't count the reimbursement as income" and you never get paid at all, you might forget to deduct what you paid out.)


It doesn't matter "why" they paid the bonus -- for mileage, or for desperation to get the shop done -- you are a contractor so everything they pay you to do the shop is part of your income.

Bob -
Keep in mind that if your offer is accepted, the shop you're looking at will not be immediately scheduled for a set date (assuming this is a business audit). You'll be contacting an individual at the assigned site and will need to schedule your visit based on that person's availability. This will make it even more challenging to snag other shops on the way out and back as you won't know right away what date you're actually making the drive. The MSC would like it done within two business days of assignment, but you are at the mercy of the on-site individual - it may take several days to speak to the person and then several more days before that person is available for you to visit.

MsJudi Wrote:
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> I believe it is actually $.56 per mile for 2014.
> It was $.565 in 2013.

LOL. You could be right. I knew it was never 56.8 cents but they change it so much I don't try to memorize it each year. As a tax preparer, at any given moment, I am generally working with last year's amounts. My financial software automatically calculates the current year's rate, but I don't pay any attention to it until I'm doing my taxes, and by then it's next year and the rate has usually changed again.

It would have to be a minimum of 150.00 for me, but everyone and everyone's situation is different.

$.568 is 56.8 cents/mile....

it's $.56/mile now though I guess....


dspeakes Wrote:
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> It's 56.5 cents per mile, I think you made a typo
> there.

I know what you meant, but the rate has never been .568. It was .565 last year.