# Which OTHER miles can be deducted under standard mileage rate?



## SubaruLegacy (Jan 17, 2018)

I plan to use the standard mileage rate this year. 

My understanding is anytime the app is on and I am online and I am accepting rides (even in destination mode) I can count those miles towards SMR deduction.

My question is can I count any other miles with the app off ever, that relate to business?

For instance... Miles spent driving to gas station before I turn on app, to fill up for rideshare driving?

Miles driving to autoparts store to purchase cleaning supplies or parts?

Miles driving to car wash?

Miles driving to mechanic?

What about if you are far from home, like 40 miles at 4am and someone pukes in your car and you have to go offline, until the car wash opens the next day. Can you count the miles to get home or to carwash?

What about driving back home from any of those locations, if I don't start driving immediately afterwards?

Sorry if this has already been answered, but I couldn't find this exact question.
Thanks for any help.


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

SubaruLegacy said:


> My understanding is anytime the app is on and I am online and I am accepting rides (even in destination mode) I can count those miles towards SMR deduction.


Be very careful with destination filter miles deduction. You can't deduct miles from your normal course of work/personal miles just because you have the destination filter on. Now granted, if you receive a fare that strays you from your normal driving routine then yes, those miles are deductible.

For example;

If your full time employment is 20 miles from your home you cannot deduct those miles simply because you have the DF on. The IRS views that as you need to make that commute whether you have fares or not. However any miles that deviate you from your normal everyday route to perform rideshare are deductible.

A few months back we had a poster that was employed 40 miles from his home. He racked up 44,000 miles in one year traveling back and forth to his normal employment. He stated that his accountant told him he could deduct all those miles just because he had his destination filter on. He never did one single fare while his destination filter was on. His yearly revenue from Uber last year was $600 and he was showing a net loss of $22,000 because he deducted those 44,000 miles. He will be audited and lose.

You can keep your destination filter on 24/7, but the only miles that are deductible are the miles that you drive to the pax, the miles with the pax in your vehicle and the miles to get you back to your original destination filter route.


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## SubaruLegacy (Jan 17, 2018)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> Be very careful with destination filter miles deduction. You can't deduct miles from your normal course of work/personal miles just because you have the destination filter on. Now granted, if you receive a fare that strays you from your normal driving routine then yes, those miles are deductible.
> 
> For example;
> 
> ...


What about at the end of a shift? Usually I'm only using the destination filter in an attempt to get home after giving rides far from home, but often I won't get any pings. Are you saying that even though I'm 100% willing to pick up riders, just because I don't get a ping suddenly those miles aren't deductible?


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

SubaruLegacy said:


> I plan to use the standard mileage rate this year.
> 
> My understanding is anytime the app is on and I am online and I am accepting rides (even in destination mode) I can count those miles towards SMR deduction.
> 
> ...


There is a lot of grey area with this subject...The basic requirement is that the miles be "business" miles, not app on or off. The things you mention could all be business related. You would need to always apply the business % factor to the items. For example, if you dirve 70% business and 30% personal for the tax year than 70% of the mileage expense driving to the mechanic would be deductible. To calculate and defend these deductions requires a good mileage log. It's well worth it!


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## KD_LA (Aug 16, 2017)

SubaruLegacy said:


> I plan to use the standard mileage rate this year.
> 
> My understanding is anytime the app is on and I am online and I am accepting rides (even in destination mode) I can count those miles towards SMR deduction.
> 
> ...


My tax accountant's exact words when I asked her a similar question, adding that at times I head straight to the airport for airport-only pickups:

"_The good news is that basically all driving you do for Uber is deductible. Since you don't have a main place of business, you will be able to deduct miles driving from home to your airport spot, as well as in between riders driving back to airport or other desirable spot. Even if the app is off, you're still using your car to position yourself for more business. You can include driving home at the end of the day as well since you don't have an office you're commuting from.

Unless you go off the clock in order to run a personal errand (i.e. lunch), the miles are deductible. Keep a good record of all miles on Uber driving days._"


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## SubaruLegacy (Jan 17, 2018)

So has anyone directly asked a tax professional about driving to car related errands?


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

SubaruLegacy said:


> So has anyone directly asked a tax professional about driving to car related errands?


You just did...Any miles related to "business" are deductible. So if you drive your vehicle to the repair shop, DMV, uber office ect.. the miles are deductible based on your business % use of the vehicle. If you use your car 70% for business for the year you can deduct 70% of the vehicle mileage expense. 
If you're serious about your taxes (you should be!), a mileage log is invaluable. It's used to calculate your total mileage + business % used for rideshare. Even if you're using the actual expense method a log is necessary to calculate business % for the year.


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## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

Use thet app stride tax


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## steveK2016 (Jul 31, 2016)

UberTaxPro said:


> You just did...


Lol, love this response.

My CPA advised any app on miles is deductible. I rarely use DF, but most of the time I use it to screen for an airport run while at home. I deduct the miles im online (no DF) as I drive home whether or not I got a request.

I certainly wouldnt be brazen enough to crank out 44,000 in deductable miles on $600 in earnings. That's a red flag for sure.


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

steveK2016 said:


> Lol, love this response.
> 
> My CPA advised any app on miles is deductible. I rarely use DF, but most of the time I use it to screen for an airport run while at home. I deduct the miles im online (no DF) as I drive home whether or not I got a request.
> 
> I certainly wouldnt be brazen enough to crank out 44,000 in deductable miles on $600 in earnings. That's a red flag for sure.


Your CPA is full of crap!

100% full of crap!


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