How to Claim a Gas Mileage Deduction for a Small Business

Video Transcript

"Gas prices have really gone through the roof lately. I'm Kristen Brand and I'm going to show you how to claim a mileage deduction for a small business. There are a couple things you'll need to understand to figure out what you can actually use on your tax return. And the first thing is to understand which kinds of mileage are actually deductible. Going to the mall? Not so much. Taking a trip to the gym? That doesn't really count either. And the other thing is if you go from your house to your regular place of business, that is considered a commuting mileage. If it's something you do every day, it is not going to work for these purposes. When you have to make errands or run to see clients, or go to do day to day business purpose activities after you've already been to your place of business, those are the kinds of things that you can track to deduct on your tax return. The next thing you'll need to do is determine the standard mileage rate that the IRS is using at the current time. You can find this information at www.irs.gov. Then you simply take that number and multiply it by the number of mileage, the number of miles that you've driven that week. If you keep track of this on a weekly basis, you can summarize the total for the year and that will be the number to use on your tax return. I'm Kristen Brand and I hope that answers your questions on how to deduct gas mileage on your tax return."