Personal Vehicle Use Mileage Rate

I claim the entire pickup. It is used only for business. It hauls parts, oils, etc and is used to snowplow out the drive and parking area for the semi truck and other stuff. I used it to go to Memphis on a vacation, but that trip also involved a meeting in St. Louis with the headquarters of my oil and lube supplier, including a tour of their facilities by the Chairman of the company. So the trip was a business related trip.

I depreciate the cost of the pickup and all maintenance. Just like the semi. Tags and insurance also. When the wife uses the Caddy to do anything related to business, then she logs the miles and we deduct those.

 

Pickup registered to the "company"?

 

Yes. No different than any fleet doing it. The pickup is part of the business. 2015 Silverado 2500. The cost is depreciated just like one does a semi, all fuel for it is written off, all maintenance written off, tires, etc. In winter, it sometimes has to cut a path with the snowplow on the gravel road to the highway almost 2 miles away so I can get the truck home after a snow storm. On top of clearing the drive and area I park the truck. With a special grader that hooks into the 2.5" receiver on the back, it also grades the drive and parking area to keep it all fresh. It is not just a luxury. It has a definite need that it meets.

 

While you are absolutely correct that you can NEVER use ANY part of the house claimed as office for ANY personal use, you don't have to claim a home office on your taxes to claim your office as your Primary Business Location.

We run our office out of our home, but choose not to take a home office deduction. While the deduction is not insignificant, there are two draw-backs. One, it seems to be a bit of an audit flag, and two, when you sell the house you have to re-capture the depreciation. Between the audit risk, and the fact you have to re-capture the depreciation, the tax benefit is too slight for me to worry with.

I make sure that on every trip to the farm or the truck, I either bring something (oil, supplies, trip packet, tools), or bring something back (time cards, log books, original BOL's, etc). As long as you don't COMMUTE to your job, but rather travel between locations for business purposes, the mileage is deductible.