Vehicle expenses can be a major business deduction for family child care providers - and are often audited by the IRS. Therefore, it pays to know what you can deduct and how to keep accurate records.
You can count a trip as a business trip if the "primary" purpose of the trip is business. Primary purpose means that more than 50% of the reason for the trip is business. This includes children's field trips, trips to the bank to deposit parent fees, and trips to trainings. A trip to the grocery could be claimed as a business trip if more than 50% of the food purchased was for the business.
You must have an "adequate record" to show that you made a business trips: calendar notations, receipts, cancelled checks, credit or debit card statements, field trip permission forms, training certificates, mileage log, photographs, and other written records. You may want to review these records monthly to make sure you've identified all your business trips.
is the mileage round trip or one way? Say I go to the grocery store for business groceries. Do I track the mileage one way or round trip?
Posted by: Stephanie | 09/12/2011 at 12:53 PM
Count mileage round trip. You can claim a trip only if the primary purpose of the trip is business. When it is, claim the round trip miles.
Posted by: Tom Copeland | 09/13/2011 at 06:54 AM
If I am claiming my mileage, for a contract labor job, can I claim round trip miles or is it one way?
Posted by: Aletha | 01/08/2012 at 09:40 PM
You can count round trips to a contract labor job as a mileage deduction.
Posted by: Tom Copeland | 01/09/2012 at 07:27 AM