Taxes: Business use of vehicle

[Willem Blees]

Terry



You're making it too complicated. Figure your mileage the same way you figure inventory.?Write down the?odometer reading on Jan 1 and subtract it from the reading on Dec. 31. You use your car for about 80% business and 20% personal use. That's the mileage you use. There is a question if you you can substantiate your mileage. The answer to to that is yes, because?if and when the IRS ever audits you, show them your appointment book?showing all your customers.?Let them figure out how many miles you drove. (You can include you drove to Anaheim, or any other seminar). They have to prove you cheated?they cannot make you prove you lied. That's called self incrimination. 



Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT
Piano Tuner/Technician
Honolulu, HI
Author of 
The Business of Piano Tuning
available from Potter Press
www.pianotuning.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Terence Miller <innuuuu at yahoo.com>
To: pianotech list <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Wed, 2 Apr 2008 3:50 am
Subject: Taxes: Business use of vehicle


Dear List:

Let's say you're preparing your records for taxes. You turn to your business mileage log and notice some holes in your notations...like beginning mileage and no finish mileage, or mileages and no date. So your record is slightly erratic.

There's a good chance that you will be able to recreate your activities if you cross check with your calendar, invoice book and business receipts.

If you do figure out what you did when, how do you get a good mileage estimate?


Ah.

Google Maps to the rescue!????????????? (maybe other map sites too.)

www.google.maps


click on?????? Get directions

enter a??????? Start address
and a????????? End address
and then???? Get Directions


it will give you turn by turn directions, distance and estimated time

(hmmm, nothing new here)

BUT say you go more than one place.
What if you have to go back to the shop, buy gas, go to the hardware store, oops back to the shop again, and out to your final appointment?

Click on??????? Add destination...
type in the address?????????????????????? (or????????? Ace Hardware? YourCity Your State) 
and then??? ?? Get Directions

do that for all the places you went
click the???? -????? sign to collapse the directions
and?????????? drag and drop??????????? the destinations to match the route (however crazy) you took. 

as you get comfortable with this you'll find that you can zoom in on the map to the right of the display, right click and??????? Add a destination????????? instead of typing everything.


and there's your mileage.



QED


Terry Miller, RPT





You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. 
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