# how do you log your miles?



## Citydriver (Mar 8, 2016)

I just started doing lyft and I have only put about 7 hours in.. . I was wondering, how do you track your miles? I asked my CPA but was wondering, do you only log when you are in driver mode? what if I turn it off and head to the surge? or the gas station? What if don't deduct these? 
Also, what other sort of things do you keep track of while working.
Thanks


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## Stygge (Jan 9, 2016)

You should log the miles necessary for making your income. App on or off is not the key. If all your driving for 5 hours is for uber or lyft then just record your start and end odometer and location. Also log odometer for the first and last day of the year.


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

Citydriver said:


> I just started doing lyft and I have only put about 7 hours in.. . I was wondering, how do you track your miles? I asked my CPA but was wondering, do you only log when you are in driver mode? what if I turn it off and head to the surge? or the gas station? What if don't deduct these?
> Also, what other sort of things do you keep track of while working.
> Thanks


The test is whether the miles are ordinary and necessary. What if I turn it off and head to the surge? I would say yes heading to a surge would be ordinary and necessary business miles. Same for trip to gas station.
Both criteria, *ordinary and necessary,* need to be met for the expense to be deductible. For an expenditure to be an *ordinary expense*, it must be a common or usual expense in one's business and an acceptable or customary expense for one's business.
The term* necessary* for tax purposes has a wider definition than that found in common usage today. The expense does not have to be "absolutely necessary" in the sense that it is "indispensable" to carrying on the business. It only needs to be helpful to one's business as well as appropriate for one's business.


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## Citydriver (Mar 8, 2016)

So, say I drive a total of 100 miles the whole day. Including personal driving and my second job. I tell IRS that I drove 60 miles for lyft. Is the IRS ever going to question this? If I forgot to record miles, or pause the trip log?


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## UberTaxPro (Oct 3, 2014)

Citydriver said:


> So, say I drive a total of 100 miles the whole day. Including personal driving and my second job. I tell IRS that I drove 60 miles for lyft. Is the IRS ever going to question this? If I forgot to record miles, or pause the trip log?


Just keep good records and deduct all business miles you're entitled to and you'll never have to worry about the IRS questioning anything.


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## Dajark (Dec 10, 2015)

How do you account for dead miles without any records? Trying to do my taxes, but I know dead miles account for much more mileage than the on trip miles uber documented.


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

Dajark said:


> How do you account for dead miles without any records? Trying to do my taxes, but I know dead miles account for much more mileage than the on trip miles uber documented.


If you are trying to figure out your dead miles for last year it's too late.

I would turn on app, write down starting mileage. When done for the day turn off app write down ending mileage. All miles in between are deductible as long as you were available and looking for pings.

In order to deduct the mileage, you must keep a daily log.


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