Friday, March 13, 2009

Auto Deductions Need Documentation

Auto deductions are one of the most frequent business deductions, but is the amount you claim really deductible? Not if there's no documentation, say the laws and recent court cases.


Once recent case involved a man who could absolutely establish that his travel was for business purposes, and not reimbursed. However, he didn't have a log that showed when and to where his trips occurred. The IRS and the tax court denied him any deduction.

Keeping a log can be a tough habit to get into, but without one, your auto expenses may be completely disallowed. That change could be an expensive one for some of you, especially if you do a lot of travel. Something as simple as a small calendar book with the names of the cities you travel to on that day can save your bacon on this deduction.

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