So the upcoming tax season will be the first time I've ever had to do my own taxes and it's also my first year as a mystery shopper, so I feel a bit overwhelmed! I've been reading through some of the tax information and I have an idea of what I should be keeping track of, but it is still all a bit foreign to me.

My first question - when tracking my gas mileage for shops that I have made into a route, should I record the mileage for every location as to-and-from home or should it be from location to location? For most of my routes I recorded it as the latter. Or also, what to do for gas mileage if in between two shops I run an errand- I'm not sure if it matters if I'm extremely precise on my mileage or not.

I am not sure what expenses I can deduct and how much. For example- wear and tear on the car/electronics, the % of electricity I use filling out my reports online, % of my internet bill, etc. And if I can deduct purchases such as my new tablet, phone, ink (so much ink!), paper, etc. Or there was one instance while doing a trailer check where I got a coffee and waited at a nearby Starbucks in between showtimes; I would assume that comes out of my own dime/time but I know that every eligible expense helps.

Would most accountants know what to do with all of my paychecks and expenses? Should I seek one that maybe has experience with mystery shoppers? The other conflict is that I'm likely going to have to go to a base accountant because my husband's overseas taxes are going to be confusing (some months he's in a tax zone and some he isn't) but I don't know if have faith in them when it comes to doing my MS taxes.

Thanks for listening!

Hi, js, welcome to the forum. A little above your thread is the TAXES ON MYSTERYSHOPPING. Great tutorial. Check it out first. I think it covers most if not all of what you are asking.

Between your mystery shopping business and your husband's situation with working overseas, it may be worth it for you to use a tax professional this year. And make sure it is someone who is familiar with taxes for a home based business. My understanding is not all accountants are familiar with the ever changing tax codes. Meals while you are out in your own city during the day are not deductible. It sounds like you have kept good records which is more than half the battle.

Quick summary:
If you add a personal errand to the route, but it does not take you more than a mile or two out of the way, it does not change into "personal" milwage. That is, write off all the miles as business.

Taking the generous IRS deduction for mileage is meant to cover almost all of your auto costs, instead of writing off "wear and tear."

Taking a percentage of your home's electricity, heat, phone: no, unless you can qualify for the tough "home office stansards." Probably not worth the hassle.

That "between assignments" coffe: you are correct, that, and your lunch while out sdhopping, are not business expenses, unless you are away from home overnight on business. (

DO read up on taxes in the New Mystery Shoppers area! ALSO, since many accountants just do not understand business taxes, be SURE that your MS income and costs go onto SCHEDULE C, not just get slapped straight into Form 1099.

Thanks everyone for the info!

I'm going to ask my tax question here instead of starting a new thread. It is not my first year of MS'ing but I think I got one of those non-small business tax preparers last tax season and he screwed me out of my mileage.

Recently, I accepted a lunch shop about 90 minutes from where I live. I was going to that area for a weekend getaway (Friday and Saturday nights) but due to the lunch shop, I decided to drive over a day early, get a hotel earning rewards points on my own dime, and perform the lunch shop before changing locations for my social weekend.

Do I count the shop mileage to and from my house not counting the extra mileage for the personal part of the weekend? Or do I only count the mileage from the hotel (again not a shop) to my Friday night location (again not a shop?)

And before you route shoppers jump down my throat for not taking on more shops, I was in an area without any Internet service for the social part of the weekend so I could not submit timely reports.

That depends. How much mileage are we talking about here, and how much did you earn on the shop? If you did a $10 shop and drove 300 miles, that won't fly.

shoptolive,
You can file an amended tax return for last year, using the correct mileage information.

@ walesmaven ~ The tax preparer said that I couldn't write off any of my mileage since I also work a FT job. I told him that I keep separate mileage logs for MS'ing vs. regular job but he disagreed since I use my own vehicle for my FT job also. Like I said, I got screwed.

He was Plain wrong and since you have the records, just file an amended return, claim what was due to you and move ahead. Please look at the tax discussions o thNew ystery Shoppers area of the forums. You have 3years to file an amended return with no questions asked.

Rather than driving straight from to an office and back home again, don't you frequently have to go to multiple locations for shoots? How is that mileage handled? My thought would be if you were not being reimbursed or compensated in some way for that mileage it may also qualify as a deduction.