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How do I claim expenses as a 1040?

Can I claim cost of a car purchased(used) as part of the business expenses on Schedule C of my 1040?

  • I do drive to all of my jobs and one of my incomes is a 1099misc wage and I had to buy a used car last year because the old one died. I also had to rent a car before I found the one that I purchased. Could I claim these expenses on schedule C of my 1040? Also, what about car insurance? Thank you for your informed answers.

  • Answer:

    "I do drive TO all of my jobs " (emph added) Commuting - NOT Deductible "one of my incomes is a 1099misc wage " Doesn't matter, commuting is commuting. " I also had to rent a car before I found the one that I purchased" Nope, just a cost of living. The ONLY way you can deduct any car expense is if it is used in the course (not getting to) of your job. The mileage MUST be documented (log book) or it will be disallowed. Your attempt to claim auto expense for your "1099 wage" would, again, be subject to a detailed log and, again, commuting is NOT deductible. IF you can claim mileage, your mileage for your W-2 jobs would be claimed as "Unreimbursed Employee Expense" which is 1) subject to a 2% floor and 2) reported on Schedule A - Itemized Deductions. So 1) you only get to claim the amount that Exceeds 2% of your AGI (last number on page 1 of 1040) and 2) only if you are able to itemize your deductions instead of taking the Standard Deduction. Most people can't meet these criteria so the point is moot. IF you can claim business use of auto on your Schedule C, you may claim either the actual expense OR mileage, but NOT both. The Mileage Calculation includes, gas, maintenance, repairs, insurance, etc. If you choose actual expense, you must calculate the business percentage of total miles driven (as I said, commuting and personal miles are not deductible) and apply that percentage to the total expense of the vehicle. And as for the rental expense, again, this would have to be apportioned to the ACTUAL useage for miles incurred in the performance of your work. Commuting miles would NOT be deductible. So if you drove the rental 200 miles and used it for 25 miles for your 1099 job, then your could take 25/200ths (12.5%) of the cost of the rental.

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Other answers

No. The cost of driving to and from work is not deductible, only if you drive your car during the course of your workday. You can only deduct that portion of your car expenses, and even then you depreciate it, not take it all at once.

Judy

Not all at once, you have to depreciate the car over its estimated useful life. Rental, yes. All of this is dependent upon your use of the car. If it's strictly for business, you deduct 100%. If it's 80% business and 20% personal, you deduct 80%. As far as car insurance, you have two choices, either deduct your actual expenses (gas, insurance, maintenance, etc) from receipts or a mileage allowance as determined by the IRS. And, of course, commuting is NEVER deductible. _

Bob F

no you have two choices to claiming vehicle expenses, you have the actual method, that you have receipts for gas, oil., repairs, tires, insurance, depreciation etc or the miles driven method substantiated by a contemporaneous log of the miles used for business either method will depend on this determination of business versus personal miles the rate of 55 cents since July 1, covers all costs except tolls and parking fees(not fines) and driving to and from work is commuting and NOT deductible driving from your first job location to the next, next, next etc is deductible(with logs for proof) and errands, like going to the bank, buying supplies etc)

tro

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