gas rewards card and tax write offs?

A tax write-off would be applicable to expenses relating to the operation of the business...

Arbitrary use of receipts (food, groceries, lizard supplies, ect) would be a red flag for the TAX Audit teams...

... Philip

 

You can only deduct things specifically related to your trucking job if you are away from home. If you drive a day cab and commute daily to your trucking job, you can't deduct the cost of gas to go to work. If you can eat at home twice a day and pack your lunch, you can't use a standard meal allowance like a long distance driver. Fuel costs can only be deducted in the case where you're using that fuel specifically for a business purpose. If you buy glass cleaner and paper towels and work gloves, or a CB radio or motor carrier atlas for the truck specifically, you can keep the receipts and deduct those items. Just examples. If for example you buy a pair of jeans that you can wear for work and non work purposes, you couldn't deduct your jeans. If it was an actual work uniform that you couldn't use elsewhere, you could deduct it. As far as meals are concerned, if you're running away from home in a sleeper truck the simplest way to deduct meals is with a standard meal allowance. It's a flat amount per day that changes annually. Your account can look it up. I always counted my days away from home each month using my log books and multiply the days by that year's allowance. I am an owner operator, not an accountant, check with a professional for details but this should give you some basic guidelines. Good luck driver.

 

He is likely deducting a portion of his costs to maintain his vehicle since he uses is as a part of his actual work. Not just commuting to work.

 

If you use your card specifically for work, the statement t

 

Just did my taxes.. I don't include reward cards, I use the total amount I spent work related only.. Example.. I get a shower credit.. I use it but I didn't pay for it out of pocket.. It was free so I don't claim it.. However, if I pay for a shower out of pocket I claim it..

 

Its a deduction taken on schedule A that is a modification to your Adjusted Gross Income. You'd use schedule C if you were a business using personal property for business purposes.

Business deductions have to be related to the furtherance of you or your business making money. If you hop in your car to go to office depot to buy office supplies for your business, that is a legitimate expense that can be deducted from your taxes. Hopping in your car to commute to work isn't... that's you using your car for a personal reason. That's also the kind of hairsplitting the IRS does when looking at this.

You'd need to keep a log of your use of your vehicle to support what you claim. Dates, destination, reason for the use, mileage. That can be submitted during an audit as proof of what you're claiming.