2019 tax season is a couple weeks in. I hope you have put into practice an accurate way to track your business mileage.
The IRS has and continues to scrutinize excessive, as well as unsubstantiated, mileage claims on business returns including those filed for self-employed business and rental property owners.
Many of our clients continue to “guesstimate” and report their business mileage as rather large rounded numbers. This really does raise the eyebrows of the IRS and increases your chance of an IRS examination.
I would suggest downloading and using a mileage tracking app today.
According to an article by The Rideshare Guy, published April 30, 2018 (https://therideshareguy.com/day-5-what-are-the-best-apps-to-track-your-mileage/), the top 8 best free mileage tracker apps are:
- Stride Tax (Rideshare Guy’s favorite)
- Hurdlr
- TripLog
- MileIQ
- QuickBooks Self-Employed
- Everlance
- Rydar
- SherpaShare (specifically for rideshare drivers)
I personally use MileIQ which is a free app for both Android and IPhones. There are many mileage apps available and many of them are free with upgrades for additional features. For most small businesses, the free versions are easy to use and provide excellent reports.
The best part about a mileage app on your phone is the built-in GPS that knows when you are traveling and automatically tracks every mile you drive. You don’t have to remember to log in when you get in the car! All you have to do is respond at your destination whether it was business, personal, charitable, medical, moving, commuting, etc. The app sends reports to your email summarizing your miles by purpose.
We are two weeks into February of this new year, but trips can be added manually (and even edited) to catch up for this short period just past.
Please consider starting 2019 off with a commitment to track and record your business miles in a professional fashion that the IRS will accept.
-Niki Matthews
Manager in Tax & Accounting
