Mileage/gas for tax purposes

Can I claim gas as an expense on my taxes as a mystery shopper? I have multiple receipts of fuel usage, is that enough, or do I have to be more detailed....for example, the shop is 25 miles away so I purchased 2 gallons of unleaded?

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Mystery Shopping Taxes

I would highly suggest a tax professional. I don't mean this as an insult, but it appears you have little understanding of taxes for a business. Most people do not and it's nothing to be ashamed of. The short answer to your question is no. The long answer is......longer....

You can either deduct actual vehicle expenses for work (meaning you have to figure out how much all of your vehicle expenses were including depreciation, repairs, etc and then figure out what percentage of your total usage was business related and then multiply the 2) or you can deduct mileage (which means you need to have a detailed log of how many miles you put on your vehicle for work related purposes). Then you multiply that mileage by the current mileage deduction.

The only way you could just say hey I spent $10 on gas was if you were driving a vehicle that doesn't belong to you (IE rental)

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

Simplify your life and claim the federal mileage allowance of 53.5 cents a mile. Keep an accurate log of your mileage. You'll come out better in the end (e.g.100mi = $54.50 allowance).

Umm...thanks for dazzling me with your intricate knowledge of the United States tax system. I'm also grateful that you took the time to give me the advice of seeking out a tax professional.....I really should have thought of that myself.

Snarf 47. Thanks for the info. I'll look into it.

Let me provide the answer bgriffin should have and probably would have if he had known the result would ungrateful snark. Read the New Mystery Shoppers section. The second thread in the section is a good basic overview of IC taxes from a former mystery shopper and tax professional. I would provide a link, but don't want to dazzle you with my intricate knowledge of the forum.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

@BDavo wrote:

Umm...thanks for dazzling me with your intricate knowledge of the United States tax system. I'm also grateful that you took the time to give me the advice of seeking out a tax professional.....I really should have thought of that myself.

Well, I honestly can't believe that you were going to submit gas receipts. bgriffin's answer was correct. Did you even read it? It's common knowledge (how to deduct vehicle expenses). Apparently, you don't have it.

You can claim all of your expenses, gas, vehicle depreciation, insurance, oil changes etc or you can claim your mileage. Claiming mileage is easier but if you add up your expenses and it's more than you should claim expenses instead. You can buy Intuit's Turbo Tax one year and let the program figure it out for you and then do your own taxes going forward for free if you're so inclined. After entering all of your expenses, it will tell you if you're better off entering expenses or using the standard mileage deduction.

This is what Turbo tax says, among other things: Whether to use the standard mileage rate or actual costs is a numbers game. Generally, the more economical the vehicle is to operate, the more likely it is that the standard mileage rate will give you the bigger deduction. Conversely, the higher the operating costs, e.g., gas, repairs, tires, etc. the more beneficial the actual cost method is likely to be.

Here is Turbo Tax's info: [turbotax.intuit.com]

Yes, but your post is a bit misleading and appears to insinuate the OP can indeed deduct expenses in the way they asked the question.

Deducting actual expenses does not mean "I can deduct $20 gas because that's how much gas it cost me to drive to these 4 shops and back." To deduct actual expenses instead of mileage you have to add up ALL of your vehicle expenses for the year, figure out what percentage of your year's mileage was work related, and then multiply the total of all expenses by the percentage used for work to get your deduction. You cannot parcel out individual expenses if you are deducting actual costs instead of mileage.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

bg I think you mean that you CAN parcel out individual fuel expenses only if you are taking all acutal expenses. Or am I confused about what you mean by "actual" ? (Taking cold medication here, lol.)

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.

A good tool to figure business mileage v personal miles is Google Maps. If you use the maps for directions, your timeline will give you your actual miles driven (even if you take a wrong turn) and the time you were driving. It also computes how long you are at a stop. It does take time to transfer the information into and Excel worksheet but does save the time of recording mileage from the odometer especially if you're in a hurry and forget the odometer mileage.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2017 09:16PM by tstewart3.

No you cannot parcel out individual fuel expenses. You have to add up ALL of your fuel expenses and multiply by the percentage allocated to work.

For example. Let's say the days you worked you spend $500 on gas and drove 10,000 miles. During the whole year you drove 20,000 miles and spent $900 on gas. Let's say for example you worked in places with more expensive gas. You knew a place at home with very cheap gas but you weren't able to get gas there on days you were working. Whatever reason. You cannot deduct $500 for gas from your business taxes. You can only deduct $450 because work related expenses were 50% of your total car expenses.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

@tstewart3 wrote:

A good tool to figure business mileage v personal miles is Google Maps.

Yep. I went to the IRS office last year and he accepted my spreadsheet with miles taken from Google maps for each shop since I couldn't find my mileage log :-X. YMMV.

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams

bg,
Okay, I have/had no disagreement with the formula that you have restated. I was confused by the "short version." I use the method where I total my business miles for the year and then apply the IRS "per mile" amount to those miles. Since I am using "actual" business miles, I misunderstood your comment.

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.

Oh! and if you get the oil changed in your car through Mystery Shopping you cannot claim that as an expense related to your car. Only as a deduction towards having to spend it as toward a shop. Which is sometimes reimbursed and sometimes not depending on the company that you do it for?

2stepps,
You cannot claim it as a deduction, period. But if you are using the IRS mileage allowance, that will not matter at all. I do not report the supposed value of the oil change as income. I do not know what others are doing.

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.

Oil changes, and the mileage/cost to get there, are deductible if you are not using standard mileage.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Mileage/gas for tax purposes

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine