charge for time?

[Mike Spalding]

Geoff,
Of course you can charge the customer for mileage AND deduct it on Sched 
C.  You charge for parts AND deduct them as Cost of Goods Sold, don't 
you?  Same principle.   My decision has been to not charge separately 
for mileage. Instead, I set my tuning fee to cover all my overhead 
expenses including auto expense.  Keeps it simple between me and the 
customer.

Mike

Geoff Sykes wrote:
> At the end of the year I deduct all my business miles, as a business 
> expense, at whatever the governments going rate is for that year. I 
> can't believe that it's possible to both charge the customer for those 
> miles and then deduct them as well. Is it? I would think that it's 
> either one or the other. Which one benefits us the most?
>  
> -- Geoff Sykes
> -- Assoc. Los Angeles
>  
>  
>  
>
>     -----Original Message-----
>     *From:* pianotech-bounces at ptg.org
>     [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] *On Behalf Of *Cy Shuster
>     *Sent:* Monday, May 07, 2007 10:11 PM
>     *To:* Pianotech List
>     *Subject:* Re: charge for time?
>
>     Most customers know the IRS mileage rates for business expenses,
>     as it's the rate they get back when they use their car for business:
>     http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=163828,00.html
>      
>     This is a good thing for them, so they think of it kindly, and it
>     has an independent rationale (rather than being an arbitrary fee).
>      
>     I charge about half of that as a separately listed mileage fee for
>     trips of more than about half an hour away from home.  I set my
>     trip odometer to zero at home, and note what it is when I get
>     onsite, and charge for the round trip.  If the price of gas goes
>     way up, I adjust the rate accordingly.  By using the round trip,
>     it's pretty easy for customers to verify with Mapquest.
>      
>     I also split the charge between all customers on the same day
>     (because I schedule them in the same area).  This encourages them
>     to find other customers for me, and it's a win/win/win for all of us.
>      
>     Dan Levitan has a great concept to use: establish a "policy". 
>     This lets you make exceptions, without rolling over completely. 
>     For example, "My policy is to charge for mileage on out-of-town
>     trips, but in this case, Mrs. Jones, I'm waiving it for you.".
>      
>     --Cy--
>      
>