Last updated on: October 18, 2023
A great number of companies have decided that the safest thing to do during a pandemic is to send their employees home, to work from there. Remote working has its pros and cons, but one thing is for sure when it comes to mileage: it greatly reduces commuting miles, which is rarely deductible anyway. In addition, driving from your home directly to a business client will be a business trip in your mileage log.
By switching to complete home office mode or following a hybrid approach, where employees and employers go into the office based on a schedule to make sure there are always just a small number of people in one space, commuting miles can be radically reduced. As commuting is only deductible as a business expense if our home is our primary place of business, commuting cannot be deducted as a business expense.
However, if the number of customer visits in the company has not changed drastically during this home office period, it means that the business-personal trip ratio will improve significantly.
What does this mean, tax-wise?
Mileage deduction or reimbursement can be based on two methods. The first one is called the standard mileage rate, which is issued by the IRS every year. In 2023, the rate is 65.5 cents/business mile. If a taxpayer drives an average of 18,000 business miles a year that can be multiplied by 2023’s rate of 65.5 cents. This results in an $11,790 deduction or reimbursement/tax year.
18,000 miles x 65.5 cents = $11,790
The second method is the Actual Expense Method, where taxpayers need to keep track of all their actual expenses (e.g. gasoline purchases, oil and maintenance expenses, interest expenses on the vehicle loan or, lease payments for the tax year, annual depreciation of the vehicle, registration fees, insurance, repairs, tolls, tires, garage rent, parking fees). Using this method Mileage Tax Deduction or Reimbursement can be higher but it requires more rigorous record-keeping habits.
Mileage logs will be worth more and more
If your business-personal trip ratio looks better during this pandemic, that means, that with mileage logs, you will be able to claim back more money, which we are sure will come in handy.
With the MileageWise Mileage Tracker App, you can easily track your Business trips, Personal trips, and Refuelings On the Go. The AI Wizard feature will make an IRS-proof Mileage log recommendation for you by taking into account all the legal regulations about Mileage logging and Tax return policies. Using this technology your Mileage Log will correspond to the exact Mileage you have driven according to your Odometer, even Retrospectively.
In the process the Built-In IRS Auditor checks and corrects 70 logical conflicts with a Smart Algorithm ensuring that your Mileage log will be IRS-proof, meeting Every Expectation.
If you are still worried that you can’t keep track of your mileage, entrust the task to MileageWise’s mileage log experts. We will be more than happy to help!
