Taxes: Vehicle Insurance

[jaxnRN]

This may be a really dumb and wishful question...but I am itemizing my taxes and using Turbotax. There is a question there that asks about vehicle insurance. I was a Home Health/Hospice Nurse for the entire year and used my personal vehicle for work. I put on a LOT of miles and wear and tear on my vehicle.

I didn't take any of this off of my taxes last year. I'm in the process of still figuring out the mileage deal. Turbotax states that the mileage rate is 48.5 cents. Although I read in another post that it was 50 cents.

So, if anyone knows about using insurance as a "write-off" let me know. Thanks so much!!! I paid so much out of pocket this year and still can't make ends meet. I've been an RN for 17 years and at our agency we are making LESS than new grads are getting on average nation-wide. Glad I'm not in this profession for the money. :icon_roll

[caliotter3]

An employer told me that you have to have insurance in order to register and operate your vehicle anyway, so they stopped asking employees to provide a copy of their insurance. I don't deduct the cost on my taxes for this same reason. You should consult a tax expert or call the IRS helpline.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

if you use vehicle for personal and business use, can deduct only the cost of its business use.

getting new tires, lube oil/filter, insurance can be business expense if > portion mileage spent on business and you do not chose standard deduction allowance----keep those mileage logs and expense receipts!

tax topics - topic 510 business use of car

irs: [color=#661c80]car expenses

actual car expenses include:

depreciation

licenses lease

payments registration

fees gas insurance repairs oil garage rent tires tolls parking fees

[caliotter3]

If you are doing shift work like I am, you make one trip to your client to work and one trip home from work. Therefore, no deduction. However, if you are doing intermittent visits, then you are entitled to deduct business use for each trip after the first trip to your first client (or the office), and before your last trip home. I used to do this many years ago when my husband used his car for business purposes. If you don't understand the rules as explained in the IRS bulletins, then you still need to consult a tax person to get it explained to you. As Karen stated, you have to keep detailed records.