Do you ever use your vehicle for business, medical, moving, or charity? If you answer “yes” for one or more categories, you could be eligible to deduct an amount per mile expense on your income tax return. The IRS establishes an optional annual rate per mile to calculate deductible vehicle costs.
Another option is to calculate the actual costs of using your vehicle and allocate the cost based on the mileage for that particular use. Using the IRS’ annual rate is much simpler!
So what are those standard rates?
For 2017, the IRS announced that optional standard mileage rates for the use of a car, van, pickup or panel truck will be:
- For business miles driven – 53.5 cents per mile, based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating a vehicle.
- For medical or moving purposes – 17 cents per mile driven, based on variable vehicle costs.
- In service of charitable organizations – 14 cents per mile driven, set by statute.
Changes in the business, medical, or moving mileage rates are mainly driven by volatility in fuel costs. The business mileage rate decreased half a cent per mile and the medical and moving expense rates each dropped 2 cents per mile from 2016 to 2017. The statutory charitable rate remains unchanged.
Some limits apply – Taxpayers may not use the business standard mileage rate for a vehicle after using any depreciation method under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) or after claiming a Section 179 deduction for that vehicle. In addition, the business standard mileage rate option cannot be taken for more than four vehicles used simultaneously.
Have more questions? It’s all described on the IRS website, at http://bit.ly/2iinkHX.