# How do I use the IRS standard deduction?



## FinerThings (Aug 13, 2018)

I'm just wanting to keep an idea of what my net profit per day is as a driver. I'm not trying to count every penny, just a good estimate. So it's my understanding it's easier to use the 53.5 cent per mile figure for my car-related expenses rather than track depreciation, gas, maintenance, etc. True? Accurate enough? It seems like a major hassle to track every single expense individually....but the 53.5 per mile figure seems high? 

Today I drove 145 miles (including dead miles), my gross income was $104 in 6.75 hours. The standard deduction of 53.5 cents per mile, or $77.58 makes my profit tiny. And doesn't include a ton of other expenses. Is this right?

Darrien


----------



## FinerThings (Aug 13, 2018)

Yeah, I get that, but it looks like it's too inaccurate to really get a feel for my actual daily or weekly or monthly profit. I'm trying not to track every single thing. Guess I have to if I really want to know what my profit is......argh.


----------



## FinerThings (Aug 13, 2018)

I started trying to itemize but it got so ridiculous. I don't know how to calculate my car's depreciation, even though I've looked it up online and I can see the per year depreciation, but how that corresponds to a per mile figure I can use, I have no idea, and I got stressed trying to figure it out. I can get obsessive about numbers needing to be "accurate" and I was tying myself in knots tracking gas, depreciation, car washes, oil changes, and on and on, so I decided to go with the standard deduction. But it looks like the standard deduction has nothing to do with any actual number. Sigh.


----------



## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

FinerThings said:


> I started trying to itemize but it got so ridiculous. I don't know how to calculate my car's depreciation, even though I've looked it up online and I can see the per year depreciation, but how that corresponds to a per mile figure I can use, I have no idea, and I got stressed trying to figure it out. I can get obsessive about numbers needing to be "accurate" and I was tying myself in knots tracking gas, depreciation, car washes, oil changes, and on and on, so I decided to go with the standard deduction. But it looks like the standard deduction has nothing to do with any actual number. Sigh.


The irs allows you to use the standard deduction or actual expenses Almost certainly you will use the standard deduction but that dosent mean you shouldn't keep the actual numbers to manage your business. I kept detailed numbers for a few weeks, at first, to develop a number for routine expenses and another for a reserve replacement fund. Understand at this point those numbers are projections. You won't know the real numbers until you add them up at the end of a year

Here's what I did and I'm doing. I'm driving about 6000 miles a month so one oil change a month and one 80000 miles set of tires a year. I vacuum or at least shake the mats daily and I wipe down the car most days when I buy gas (with their squeegee and paper towels) so no cost there but I get a real car wash monthly $10/mo. I checked the mileage over a couple of tanks of gas and my car gives me a running number. I get 20 mpg. And I use a high number for gas prices $3/gal. Today I filled up at $2.42 Other maintenance items would be transmission service. Coolant flush, break fluid change out, brakes and spark plugs

So gas is $0.15 per mile all that other stuff I estimated to Be about $3500 a year or 5 cents a mile

That makes routine expenses for me, to be 20 cents a mile

Now for the car. Everyone here talks about depreciation. That's important for tax purposes (and it's included in the standard deduction) it for planning purposes I'm not concerned about depreciation except that I expect to have to replace it in three years with something that costs $18000to $20000 so I need to save $6000 a year. I told you I am driving 70000 miles a year so in three years that's 200,000 miles do the math and you see that unless I have a nice savings account I need to save $0.10 cents a mile

So that's how I developed my number for expenses and a replacement fund

The question is. Now what? Or how to use these numbers?

I drive an XL vehicle but most of my rides are X and I do ok with tips. So for each mile considering all that, I make about $1 a mile when I have paying customers in the car.

So let's make some assumptions If I drive all paid miles with no dead miles (unlikely) I'll make $1 - $ o.30 or $0.70 cents a mile Over my 70000 miles a year that would be $49000 I see that as my potential

Remember each mile you drive, whether with or without a customer has the same expenses (30 cents as I've calculated it)

Now lets assume a worst case scenario-
one dead mile for every paid mile. That means I'll only earn 50 cents a mile (total miles) less that 30 cents. Or about $15000 a year. I saw this as worst case

My needs and therefore my goals are $ 36000 a year Back calculating .... i need to net 50 cents a mile or gross 80 cents a mile

So that's how I went into this thing. Now my first year is almost done and I didn't make it (I took the $3000 a month but didn't add a penny into my savings account) . It's not a big deal because I already had enough to buy another car and at least I haven't spent any of that money

But i don't like what I've done so I'm using those numbers to make some new plans. I have some ideas for next year that I'll be thinking about for the next 2 months (it's vacation time) and I'll be ready to hit the ground running in January

Most here don't like my approach to this thing They would tell you I don't know how to add and therefore don't understand that I'm losing money each time I turn on the car. To them I say BS but at least I have an approach and I think I know where I stand and I pretty much know where I'm going

You have to decide for yourself and making some projections will help


----------



## FinerThings (Aug 13, 2018)

I like the idea of factoring for the replacement cost of my car rather than depreciation. I'm shooting for buying a $23,000 car in 5 years which is $383 a month. Ugh.


----------



## wallae (Jun 11, 2018)

FinerThings said:


> I started trying to itemize but it got so ridiculous. I don't know how to calculate my car's depreciation, even though I've looked it up online and I can see the per year depreciation, but how that corresponds to a per mile figure I can use, I have no idea, and I got stressed trying to figure it out. I can get obsessive about numbers needing to be "accurate" and I was tying myself in knots tracking gas, depreciation, car washes, oil changes, and on and on, so I decided to go with the standard deduction. But it looks like the standard deduction has nothing to do with any actual number. Sigh.


I posted this to you in dead miles: 
I forget the dead miles. In fact I want them for my taxes.
I live in an area with a beach island and usually good surges, and a downtown 8 miles on a highway away where you get screwed picking up. (No surge, 7 minutes in traffic to get to the passenger, 5 minutes till they come out and then a 7 minute in traffic 1 mile and 2.75 ride (total 19 minutes)

I drive the 8 miles at 55 and get another at surge. Make 22 and hour and deduct 16 bucks on my tax . The key here is I bought my 2004 GM car with 90k for 2700. NADA BOOK was 4900 or something. Next year I will sell it for 2700 with 110,000.


----------



## FinerThings (Aug 13, 2018)

It is my understanding that we can't count dead miles toward our taxes. Only paid miles.


----------



## wallae (Jun 11, 2018)

FinerThings said:


> It is my understanding that we can't count dead miles toward our taxes. Only paid miles.


That is 100% incorrect. "it's better to be about right than exactly wrong" Warren Buffett.

You can't count the ride to pick up your first ride. You can't count home from your last dropoff. That's like driving to and from work. All else is tax deductible if you are working. That includes going empty to all rides after your first pickup.
https://uberpeople.net/threads/dead-miles.167551/


----------



## FinerThings (Aug 13, 2018)

It's not 100% correct according to what you have said. Unpaid miles between rides are dead miles, but you're saying we can count them toward our taxes, not just miles accumulated during a paid ride. I said that I thought we couldn't count dead miles, or miles between rides.


----------



## wallae (Jun 11, 2018)

I said 100% incorrect.
You can count dead miles between rides on your tax against your earnings.


----------



## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

FinerThings said:


> It is my understanding that we can't count dead miles toward our taxes. Only paid miles.


You can count any and all miles you are "working"

returning from a paid ride to Santa Barbara counts, you are working, not sight seeing.

turn on app, write down mileage. work. work. work... when you are done working for the day/night write down ending mileage each day.


----------



## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

FinerThings said:


> It's not 100% correct according to what you have said. Unpaid miles between rides are dead miles, but you're saying we can count them toward our taxes, not just miles accumulated during a paid ride. I said that I thought we couldn't count dead miles, or miles between rides.


If you turn on your app in your driveway you are at work.

All miles paid or unpaid are tax deductible, except for personal errands.


----------



## FinerThings (Aug 13, 2018)

Cool.....at least there's that. Tax deductions.


----------



## wallae (Jun 11, 2018)

FinerThings said:


> Cool.....at least there's that. Tax deductions.


Not a big deal but I still believe you can't deduct the trip to get the 1st passenger







or home from the last drop off (but whats 3 miles a day)


----------



## FinerThings (Aug 13, 2018)

I don't think so either. My wife is a travelling nurse and her tax person says only rides between patients, not the first trip to or the last trip from patients.


----------



## bsliv (Mar 1, 2016)

Starting your day in your driveway, turn on the app. You'll be accepting rides. You're working. Its deductible from there.

Commuters aren't typically working when driving. 

At the end of the day on your way home, if you'll accept rides, you're working. Its deductible until you won't accept rides.

I have a home office. If I have to leave for business, I'm working. Its deductible starting from my garage all the way back to my garage. Same for you.


----------



## PlayLoud (Jan 11, 2019)

I just started a few days ago. I turn on the apps (Uber and Stride) in my living room, and I don't leave until I get my first ping. So, yeah. I'm counting those miles. I set the destination filter on the way home. I'm counting them all while the app is open and accepting rides.


----------



## hanging in there (Oct 1, 2014)

observer said:


> If you turn on your app in your driveway you are at work.
> 
> All miles paid or unpaid are tax deductible, except for personal errands.


I would not be comfortable trying to defend that position in an audit.

If I you accept a ping and are on your way to your first call at that point, that's a different story.

If a destination filter ride takes you part-way home, the miles count until that last ride has ended. Otherwise those miles are "commuting" (non-deductable) miles.

The IRS is very clear on that point. I don't see the app simply being on as a way around those rules.


----------



## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

hanging in there said:


> I would not be comfortable trying to defend that position in an audit.
> 
> If I you accept a ping and are on your way to your first call at that point, that's a different story.
> 
> ...


How about if I sit in my lazy boy watching TV drinking my first cup of the day with the app on, I dont start the car until I get my first ping

I get what you are saying regarding the trip home, but as I see it,Its no different than mid day, driving from a drop off to my favorite nearby staging area with the app on. Im not going home, Im returning to one of my favorite staging areas

In the interest of full disclosure... Im no tax accountant and I subscribe to the dubious theory, "when in doubt deduct"


----------



## hanging in there (Oct 1, 2014)

oldfart said:


> How about if I sit in my lazy boy watching TV drinking my first cup of the day with the app on, I dont start the car until I get my first ping
> 
> I get what you are saying regarding the trip home, but as I see it,Its no different than mid day, driving from a drop off to my favorite nearby staging area with the app on. Im not going home, Im returning to one of my favorite staging areas
> 
> In the interest of full disclosure... Im no tax accountant and I subscribe to the dubious theory, "when in doubt deduct"


In your first example the ping starts your business mileage, in the second example the deadhead to a staging area that's not home is still business mileage. As far as tax laws, It doesn't have to make sense, it just is.


----------



## wallae (Jun 11, 2018)

They say it pretty clear. 
Everybody has to drive to work and everybody has to drive home and it’s not deductible.
Only the middle is deductible.


----------



## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

hanging in there said:


> In your first example the ping starts your business mileage, in the second example the deadhead to a staging area that's not home is still business mileage. As far as tax laws, It doesn't have to make sense, it just is.


exactly, and I stage from my driveway


----------



## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

FinerThings said:


> I'm just wanting to keep an idea of what my net profit per day is as a driver. I'm not trying to count every penny, just a good estimate. So it's my understanding it's easier to use the 53.5 cent per mile figure for my car-related expenses rather than track depreciation, gas, maintenance, etc. True? Accurate enough? It seems like a major hassle to track every single expense individually....but the 53.5 per mile figure seems high?
> 
> Today I drove 145 miles (including dead miles), my gross income was $104 in 6.75 hours. The standard deduction of 53.5 cents per mile, or $77.58 makes my profit tiny. And doesn't include a ton of other expenses. Is this right?
> 
> Darrien


Your math is right, by IRS standards your taxable profit was $26.42 in 6 hours 45 minutes, or a staggering.. $3.91 per hour. This is infact the income that you would be _*paying income taxes on*_.

You'll get more using the per-mile rate and it's far easier to use.

Your depreciation is going to be harder to calculate, there's a movement going to push for inclusion of ridesharing/gig work on the vehicle history report.

Already there's guides on the interweb showing one how to find evidence that a car was used for ridesharing and to avoid purchasing it solely for that reason.. all other things equal.

https://www.consumerreports.org/buying-a-car/how-to-avoid-buying-a-used-uber-or-lyft-car/


Check a vehicle history report to see if a lot of miles were put on during a short period of time and if there are any accidents on file. "If you see 50,000 miles in one year, that's a pretty big red flag that it was owned by an Uber or Lyft driver," said Campbell.
Check the rear seat for excess wear and tear.
Look for airport permits. Many airports require ride-share vehicles to display a visible permit.
Look for residue from stickers. Depending on location, Uber and Lyft vehicles usually have a large sticker on the front and/or rear windshields, and these often leave a trace behind. The stickers are usually much larger than a parking permit.

I mean... doing this is going to have a negative impact on your car's resale value, how much? I have no idea... but it will take a toll faster than you think it will, in ways that are hard to calculate.

I expect it to show up on the vehicle histories (Like CarFox) in the very near future.

So in practice, in 5 years we may find that using a car for ride-sharing AT ALL knocks thousands off it's value.


----------



## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

hanging in there said:


> I would not be comfortable trying to defend that position in an audit.
> 
> If I you accept a ping and are on your way to your first call at that point, that's a different story.
> 
> ...


So, what do you do? Drive ten miles north or west or south and *then* turn on your app?

On your way home, if your app is on, you are available to work. If you get a ping you should take it. If you don't get a ping, you are still available to work until you turn it off.


----------



## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> I mean... doing this is going to have a negative impact on your car's resale value, how much? I have no idea... but it will take a toll faster than you think it will, in ways that are hard to calculate.
> 
> I expect it to show up on the vehicle histories (Like CarFox) in the very near future.
> 
> So in practice, in 5 years we may find that using a car for ride-sharing AT ALL knocks thousands off it's value.


If you are right successful uber drivers will be able to buy their cars from failed uber drivers and save a ton

But If you drive your car iike i do ie run the wheels off it. Who cares. They are never worth less than zero.. With rideshare Ill get there faster but the goal is a zero valuation


----------



## Wonkytonk (Jan 28, 2018)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> Your depreciation is going to be harder to calculate, there's a movement going to push for inclusion of ridesharing/gig work on the vehicle history report.
> 
> I mean... doing this is going to have a negative impact on your car's resale value, how much? I have no idea... but it will take a toll faster than you think it will, in ways that are hard to calculate.
> 
> ...


I stopped using quick oil change places when I discovered they were reporting my mileage at oil changes to interested parties like my insurance company and most likely carfax as well.

I'm going to write them a little nasty-gram letting them know I've stopped using them and that I'm advising everyone I know to stop using them unless they want their insurance rates to go up if they've temporarily had to drive more miles in a short period of time.

They should disclose they're releasing your information, and they damn sure shouldn't be charging full rate for the oil change knowing they're making money off the back end by selling your information.


----------



## wallae (Jun 11, 2018)

As a buyer I love it... seeing a car has had oil changes


----------



## BCS DRIVER (Oct 25, 2018)

If you're signed into the app(s) and logged in you're on the clock so to speak. Doesn't matter if you're in your driveway or 10 miles from home and waiting for that first ping. There is no such thing as commuting miles that pertain to ride share.

The following from IRS may help clarify that. I've also included a deduction that some may not have thought of (meals).

*Publication 463 (2017), Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses*

*Who should use this publication.*

You should read this publication if you are an employee or a sole proprietor who has business-related travel, entertainment, gift, or *transportation expenses*.

*No regular place of work.*

If you have no regular place of work but ordinarily work in the metropolitan area where you live, you can deduct daily transportation costs between home and a temporary work site outside that metropolitan area.

*Travel expenses defined.*

For tax purposes, travel expenses are the ordinary and necessary expenses of traveling away from home for your business, profession, or job.

An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your trade or business. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your business. An expense doesn't have to be required to be considered necessary.

*CAR*

Operating and maintaining your car when traveling away from *home* on business. You can deduct actual expenses or the standard mileage rate, as well as business-related tolls and parking. If you rent a car while away from home on business, you can deduct only the business-use portion of the expenses.

*Factors used to determine tax home.*

If you don't have a regular or main place of business or work, use the following three factors to determine where your tax home is.

1. You perform part of your business in the area of your main home and use that home for lodging while doing business in the area.

2. You have living expenses at your main home that you duplicate because your business requires you to be away from that home.

3. You haven't abandoned the area in which both your historical place of lodging and your claimed main home are located; you have a member or members of your family living at your main home; or you often use that home for lodging.

*Meals*

You can deduct the cost of meals in either of the following situations.

· It is necessary for you to stop for substantial sleep *or rest* to properly perform your duties while traveling away from home on business.

*50% limit on meals.*

You can figure your meals expense using either of the following methods.

· Actual cost.

· The standard meal allowance.

*Actual Cost*
You can use the actual cost of your meals to figure the amount of your expense before reimbursement and application of the 50% deduction limit. If you use this method, you must keep records of your actual cost.

A restaurant receipt is enough to prove an expense for a business meal if it has all of the following information.

· The name and location of the restaurant.

· The number of people served.

· The date and amount of the expense


----------



## BCS DRIVER (Oct 25, 2018)

Record keeping. A time consuming PITA. But necessary. If you do the standard mileage rate deduction on your taxes and expect to survive an audit those records must be done properly. *Not *a begin mileage at the start of the shift with an end mileage at the end. Won't fly.

Every entry must include mileage and location at the start point and end point for *each type of trip, P1, P2, and P3.
*
Have a log book and write this info down? That's an option but not a good one for me. Too time consuming.

My method. I use Voice Recorder Pro on my phone. $3.49 from the Google Store.

My entries into this go like this:

1st: Date>P1>Mileage>Location/address
I get a ping and accept
2nd: P2 > (and upon arrival for pickup) mileage > Location/address
3rd: P3 > (upon arrival for dropoff) mileage > Location/address
4th: P1 ( I already have the mileage and Location/address from the above P3.

No need to enter the date (it's already been done on the first entry nor time. Time is irrelevant to IRS.

And so on. I've met the rules by providing the mileage and start point/end point for each period. Then at my leisure I listen to each entry and write the details down in a log book. When done I erase all messages.


----------



## Dan2miletripguy (Nov 3, 2018)

I'm just worried that I will be audited because it took me soooo many miles to make some money that I will show a teeny profit on several thousands in earnings.


----------



## forqalso (Jun 1, 2015)

wallae said:


> They say it pretty clear.
> Everybody has to drive to work and everybody has to drive home and it's not deductible.
> Only the middle is deductible.


Except an Uber driver doesn't have to drive to work, just walk to wherever the car is parked, any miles before first ping are deductible as you are searching for a rider. 
http://alturl.com/ojfwe
This site has a nice chart showing which miles are deductible.


----------



## NOXDriver (Aug 12, 2018)

oldfart said:


> The irs allows you to use the standard deduction or actual expenses Almost certainly you will use the standard deduction but that dosent mean you shouldn't keep the actual numbers to manage your business. I kept detailed numbers for a few weeks, at first, to develop a number for routine expenses and another for a reserve replacement fund. Understand at this point those numbers are projections. You won't know the real numbers until you add them up at the end of a year
> 
> Here's what I did and I'm doing. I'm driving about 6000 miles a month so one oil change a month and one 80000 miles set of tires a year. I vacuum or at least shake the mats daily and I wipe down the car most days when I buy gas (with their squeegee and paper towels) so no cost there but I get a real car wash monthly $10/mo. I checked the mileage over a couple of tanks of gas and my car gives me a running number. I get 20 mpg. And I use a high number for gas prices $3/gal. Today I filled up at $2.42 Other maintenance items would be transmission service. Coolant flush, break fluid change out, brakes and spark plugs
> 
> ...


LOL What??? Saving for a new car is not an expense you can deduct. You can use retained earnings but that's not an EXPENSE.

You need to see one of those Walmart tax pros.. you're just making crap up.


----------



## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

NOXDriver said:


> LOL What??? Saving for a new car is not an expense you can deduct. You can use retained earnings but that's not an EXPENSE.
> 
> You need to see one of those Walmart tax pros.. you're just making crap up.


Of course it's niot an expense for tax purposes, which is exactly what I said

Depreciation is the expense item and it's im life's in the standard deduction

My point is that business people keep records for two reasons. One is to satisfy the IRS and the other is for business planning. Tracking depreciation as important as it might be for tax purposes does not help one prepare for the future. Saving for a new car is important for that purpose and I believe should be done in a systematic way.


----------



## BCS DRIVER (Oct 25, 2018)

Dan2miletripguy said:


> I'm just worried that I will be audited because it took me soooo many miles to make some money that I will show a teeny profit on several thousands in earnings.


Businesses show teeny profit or no profit or loss all the time. As long as you've kept an accurate log by IRS standards you'll be fine.


----------



## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

Dan2miletripguy said:


> I'm just worried that I will be audited because it took me soooo many miles to make some money that I will show a teeny profit on several thousands in earnings.


said every uber/lyft driver ever...



oldfart said:


> If you are right successful uber drivers will be able to buy their cars from failed uber drivers and save a ton
> 
> But If you drive your car iike i do ie run the wheels off it. Who cares. They are never worth less than zero.. With rideshare Ill get there faster but the goal is a zero valuation


I've had a car that was worth less than Zero...

Example 1

"Sir it's going to take $4,000 to get your car back on the road"

"What's it worth after i fix it?"

"$1,000"

Example 2.

Sorry old Fart, "Your car has been totaled, based on it's mileage w'ere mailing your bank a check for $5,000."

"Old fart, after receiving a check from your insurance company you owe $8,000" says the bank.

"But the insurance company only sent you $5,000... so what your saying is I owe $3,000 and have no car?"

"No sir, i'm saying you owe $8,000 and have no car, you owed 13,000 and Gieco sent a check for 5,000, leaving you a balance of $8,000"


----------



## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> said every uber/lyft driver ever...
> 
> I've had a car that was worth less than Zero...
> 
> ...


No, the car is not worth less than zero. In your example the insurance company said it was worth $5000, now it's worth $0. So because you made your insurance payments on time here's a $5000 check

What you might owe and has nothing to do with the value of that pile of metal and plastic

Many folks that have borrowed money to buy a car are upside down the day they drive the car off the lot. The value of the car is the value of the car and nothing says that that value will always be what you owe

Let's look at a $20000 car that you bought with a $15000 loan and with $5000 cash.
In a year of light driving and making your payments on time you owe $13000 and the car is now worth $16000

Now you decide to sell the car. You and your buyer agree on $16000. You pay off your loan and pocket $3000. So in a year you lost $2000

when you sold the car, was it worth $16000?

or was it worth the $3000 you pocketed at the time of the sale?

or was it worth a negative $2000 (your loss)?

The answer of course is that it was worth $16000. The value of the car has nothing to do with what you owe or what your down payment was

Now to your example; the value of the wrecked car is zero. What you owe on it is another thing and has nothing to do with that zero valuation.


----------



## wallae (Jun 11, 2018)

As someone who has worked in the car industry most get gap insurance if needed.
I told my son to get it when he got a new Mercedes. ( I also told him to buy used)


----------



## mbd (Aug 27, 2018)

Use mileage and they don't have time to audit.
Chances of a Uber/l driving getting audited is Way low
They are short handed and mostly they go after 250k or higher groups, at less than 1% chance of getting audited
So U/l driver is way down the list


----------



## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

mbd said:


> Use mileage and they don't have time to audit.
> Chances of a Uber/l driving getting audited is Way low
> They are short handed and mostly they go after 250k or higher groups, at less than 1% chance of getting audited
> So U/l driver is way down the list


At some point the IRS is going to figure out that Ridesare drivers are not keeping proper mileage logs and than many more will start getting audited. The audit will start with a simple letter from the IRS that was electronically triggered from your ridesare activity. Dear XXXX the IRS is conducting an audit by mail, blah blah blah .....please send us your mileage log. Blah Blah Blah. When it does not meet their standards your problems start. I'm not willing to take that chance. I properly log every mile I drive.


----------



## Noob-ber (Dec 25, 2018)

BCS DRIVER said:


> My entries into this go like this:
> 
> 1st: Date>P1>Mileage>Location/address
> I get a ping and accept
> ...


Do yourself a huge favor. Get Triplog.

It does all of this automatically. Mine is set to activate upon charging. If I move more than a few miles per hour while charging, it knows I am in my car and starts logging the ride.

It includes exact GPS locations of each stop as well as mileage, date, time etc.

After you can go and change the type of ride it was if you want (personal vs. ridesharing). I set mine to ridesharing by default so that I only have to change the personal ones.

It is then all exportable as a standard spreadsheet file upon request. You instantly get an email with it that you can then import into a tax program if you wish.

I've tried several tracking apps (5) and this is the best one for my needs by far.

You instantly can see in the app your mileage deductions for the day, week, month, year etc. It also logs deductions based on the type they are (It truly could not be any easier.

Looking at my January so far (I only drive about 20 hours a week), I have $992.32 in deducations. So at (for example) a 28% tax bracket, that is $992.32 x .28 = $277.85 more in my pocket at the end of the year because I don't have to pay taxes on that $992.


----------



## BCS DRIVER (Oct 25, 2018)

Got it and have used it and still getting used to it. UberTaxPro advised using manual rather than automatic so that's what I do. Agreed it's a great app.



Noob-ber said:


> Do yourself a huge favor. Get Triplog.
> 
> It does all of this automatically. Mine is set to activate upon charging. If I move more than a few miles per hour while charging, it knows I am in my car and starts logging the ride.
> 
> ...





BCS DRIVER said:


> I have a couple of nights driving and using this app. My question to you is do you do a start-stop for each period?


----------



## Noob-ber (Dec 25, 2018)

I use it automatic (Plug N Go). Speed threshold 5 mph when it is being charged. Basically, it won't trigger when I am home charging it but as soon as I start driving with it charging it turns on automatically.

I also have the timeout threshold set to 15 minutes. That way if I am between pax pings, it doesn't create a whole bunch of separate trips but instead tracks my whole driving period each time I go out.


----------



## BCS DRIVER (Oct 25, 2018)

Noob-ber said:


> I use it automatic (Plug N Go). Speed threshold 5 mph when it is being charged. Basically, it won't trigger when I am home charging it but as soon as I start driving with it charging it turns on automatically.
> 
> I also have the timeout threshold set to 15 minutes. That way if I am between pax pings, it doesn't create a whole bunch of separate trips but instead tracks my whole driving period each time I go out.


I can see how that works for you. I prefer my entries be broken down into periods, P1, P2, and P3. I see no way to have that done automatically.


----------



## Darrell Green Fan (Feb 9, 2016)

I've had many long discussions with tax professionals on this topic and here is what I know to be true. Yes you can deduct every mile the app is on. This is by far the easiest and best method, it will be higher than upkeep and you don't need to F with keeping receipts for a car wash. 

Now here's the catch. Although the IRS Guidelines clearly say you only need to record the odometer reading at the start and end of the day along with the miles the truth is you really need to get an app, turn it off and then on again with each stop, so you can record each individual ride. Pain in the ass for sure but my tax person said she had 2 clients who do ride share and did it the first way and they rejected the deduction, setting off a huge tax event. So to protect yourself in an audit you need to record each individual ride. Some auditors let it slide if you don't record each drive, others will deny the deduction and they are judge and jury. Want to take that chance? Not me.


----------

