I know you’ve grown tired of me reminding you that you need to log your business mileage to get the benefit of deducting the costs of your car.  Unless your car use is like mine, this really is a necessity.

(My situation involves using the car far less frequently for non-business deductible activities.  So, it’s easier for me to track when I use my car for personal use- going food shopping, going to the movies, a synagogue event,  etc.  And, I pay my company for my personal use of the car.  The opposite of  most folks’ experiences.)

The IRS rules for mileage logs apply only we don’t have a vehicle exclusively for business uses; we have a different vehicle for personal use.

But, many of you don’t know that a mileage log- at its bare minimum- can involve one of two processes.  A complete mileage log maintained for any three consecutive months OR an identical week for each month.  (This latter would never work for me, since there is a great bet that any week I would choose would have a Jewish Holiday and screw it up.  And, that’s also why the three consecutive months I would use would start the day after the last Autumnal Jewish holiday and continue for 90 days.)

You should know that many an IRS auditor lacks the knowledge of these methods to satisfy the IRS rule on mileage logs.  But, you need to stand your ground.  (Of course, asking us to provide you the IRS regulation that covers this stipulation is also a smart move.)  Moreover, the IRS agent believes if you have no mileage log, the odds are your other records are the pits, too- and will attempt to rake you over the coals.  (Sound familiar, Mr. B?)

Some folks use their appointment books- which list the appointment to which they add the mileage involved.   (I haven’t used a Day Timer in almost 30 years.  Even though I still have the extra note pages.  Yeah, I should throw them out.  You see, even before the Chicago beta (aka Windows 95),  when I began using Outlook to track my days and appointments, I had a PDA [the size of a textbook].)

Some folks use their GPS device.  (See, that’s easy, too!)   For example, Garmin has something called ecoRoute that does just this.  (I admit to not setting my Garmin up to do this.  Because I rarely punch in a destination!)

Others use MileIQ, a Microsoft app that works on Apple and Android phones (you must have your phone’s location services turned on) to track one’s mileage; one only has to detail the business purpose.  (It’s free if you only have 40 drives a month- as far as I know, that rarely suffices, so spend the $ 60 bucks annually to have unlimited use.) Some people recommend you sync these data with one’s appointment book.

If you are using the three-month log process, the percentage of business use for that quarter is then extended for the rest of the year- as long as there is indication that this three-month period is representative.  (If you run a summer day camp or a pop-up store, you can’t use the 90 day record to imply that it would be representative of the rest of the year.)

So, what’s your excuse for not keeping a mileage log, again?????

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