# Business expense write off question



## Schweisshund (Feb 28, 2016)

Suppose I want to take my family on an out of State vacation. For just the purpose of illustrating an example - suppose I want to go to Orlando, Florida and I reside in the Atlanta Area. Is it possible for me to drive for Uber in the Orlando Area and write off the traveling expenses as a business expense? I am not attempting to get into trouble, this is just something I don't know the answer to.


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

No. that would be "commute miles" that are non deductable.


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## Schweisshund (Feb 28, 2016)

What about other expenses - i.e. Lodging?


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

Schweisshund said:


> Suppose I want to take my family on an out of State vacation. For just the purpose of illustrating an example - suppose I want to go to Orlando, Florida and I reside in the Atlanta Area. Is it possible for me to drive for Uber in the Orlando Area and write off the traveling expenses as a business expense? I am not attempting to get into trouble, this is just something I don't know the answer to.


Travel expenses need to be ordinary and necessary expenses for your job or business so most likely no. Travel expenses, meals, and lodging while looking for a new job are deductible however. The new job however must be in your present trade or business. Maybe you could apply to a few taxi companies and lyft while your're at Disney.


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## Schweisshund (Feb 28, 2016)

Yes, my question was an obvious allusion to a Disney vacation lol. But suppose I want to work a big event in another State, for Uber, how would current tax law cover those types of expenses? Could I drive for Uber with an out of State tag?


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## Schweisshund (Feb 28, 2016)

P.s. Sorry for the out of ordinary question it's just something I've been thinking about for a while


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Schweisshund said:


> Suppose I want to take my family on an out of State vacation. For just the purpose of illustrating an example - suppose I want to go to Orlando, Florida and I reside in the Atlanta Area. Is it possible for me to drive for Uber in the Orlando Area and write off the traveling expenses as a business expense? I am not attempting to get into trouble, this is just something I don't know the answer to.


Hand out Uber promotional free trips with your code on them.
Hand out Uber driver recruitment with your promotional numbers.
Document printing expenses.
Hand out material every day of your trip.
Your vacation is now a "SALES TRIP".
WRITE THE WHOLE THING OFF INCLUDING HOTELS,AND MEALS.


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

Schweisshund said:


> Yes, my question was an obvious allusion to a Disney vacation lol. But suppose I want to work a big event in another State, for Uber, how would current tax law cover those types of expenses? Could I drive for Uber with an out of State tag?


Could I drive for Uber with an out of State tag? If the app works yes! Seriously, that depends on Uber's policies which are different all around the country. In CT for example I can drive in RI,NJ and western MA but not NY (which is 5 min away). I believe you can open more driver accounts in different areas with Uber. I was thinking about opening an account in NY and an Uber rep told me I absolutely could but I'd have a separate account for NY.

As far as the miles question goes I think it would be difficult to justify miles from Atlanta to Orlando as "ordinary and necessary". * If you were to work the entire trip down I75 accepting pings and making money then you might have miles that qualify as deductible business miles. *Making a substantial profit on the business trip would also help to justify any mileage deduction. Accepting trips going down 95 or 75 would be difficult with your family in the car however! Driving your family from Atlanta to Orlando would not be considered "ordinary and necessary" for your business.

*IF* the trip was an ordinary and necessary business trip you could only deduct meals and lodging for yourself. So if you paid $200 for hotel rooms for your family you'd only be able to deduct 50% of the price of a single room at the hotel. So if a single room was $100 only $50 would be deductible. Same for meals....only 50% of the cost for yourself is deductible.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

From what I read here, most drivers have a very low tax liability, if any, with ordinary vehicle mileage expenses. Bite the financial bullet for the vacation, and enjoy the time with your family, forgetting Uber for the duration of the trip. You only go around once.


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## OrlandoUberX (Feb 15, 2016)

Trust me you don't want to Uber here in Orlando.


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## lyftsteve (Mar 7, 2016)

No, your mileage/hotels from home to your vacation destination aren't deductible, as above posters have mentioned. I also wouldn't hand out promotional flyers on your way down under the guise of making it a deductible business trip, as the only qualifying expenses would be meals/lodging for the express purpose of conducting business. But you can of course deduct normal operating expenses in your destination city if you choose to turn on Uber while you're there. Source: 99deductions


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## Charles Lawson (Mar 4, 2016)

LAuberX said:


> No. that would be "commute miles" that are non deductable.


This is incorrect, the IRS only defines commute miles as your routine drive to and from your office. A one time trip can never be considered commuting. With that said, the answer to the original question is the same, meaning no that isn't something you should actually try to deduct as an expense. You could get away with it but in the event of an audit, which is caused frequently by a business not showing a profit, they would throw out that expense as personal miles driven.

The way you do your mileage deductions against the revenue is you set up a business profile in your tax software and you do a vehicle schedule where you list total miles and miles driven for business.

Hope that helps!


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