Question

I use my car for work. I work in early intervention, where I drive all over Denver to go to my clients' homes. I need to get new brakes badly. Can I deduct this?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 5, 2019
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Could I also deduct oil changes and car maintenance costs?

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Employee

Your daily commute from home to work is not a deductible expense no matter how far it is. Travel to multiple work sites is deductible transportation -- there is a graphic in chapter 4 of publication 463 that helps to explain this -- but it is subject to certain conditions. https://www.irs.gov/uac/about-publication-463

Most importantly, you must have accurate records of your work-related mileage that contains at a minimum, the date, the work purpose of the trip, and the number of miles. There are diaries and logbooks for your glove compartment for this, and there are probably smartphone apps as well. The records must be made contemporaneously (within a reasonable close time frame to the actual trip so your memory is fresh) and you can't just guess or make up a number.

Then, you can deduct your work-related car use by one of two methods. The standard mileage rate gives you a deduction of 54 cents per mile. This includes allowances for gas, repairs, maintenance, and depreciation (wear and tear). You only need to know the number of work miles you drove.

Or, you can deduct actual expenses. You need to know the number of work miles and the total number of miles. You add up all your car expenses, -- gas, insurance, repairs, maintenance, and you calculate depreciation based on the cost of the car and its age. Then your deduction is the percentage of expenses equal to the percent of work miles you drove -- if 40% of your miles are job related, then you deduct 40% of your overall expenses.

The standard mileage method requires much less record keeping and usually results in a larger deduction even if you have repairs.

No matter which method you use, the deduction is reported on form 2106 for job-related deductions, then this is an itemized deduction subject to the 2% rule, so the actual deduction will be reduced and depends on your overall tax situation.