What you should know about using your car for business

Whether you are an entrepreneur or the owner of a large company there are a few things you should know about using a vehicle for business.   Besides insuring the car, you have been trying to find ways to get money back on your taxes. Have you been trying to write off 100% of your leased vehicle, only to find that you can deduct a percentage and not the whole enchilada? Nonetheless, we thought we would give you some hints on some things you should know when using a car for business.

 

So you just purchased a pickup truck for your landscaping business.  The first thing you will want to do is to call two very important people.  First call your Tax Preparer or accountant then call your Insurance agent.  You will want to check with your agent for the following:

1.    If you should take out a higher liability insurance.

2.    If you should have a commercial policy and what is the difference between that and higher liability.

3.    If you have employees driving your vehicle should you carry a special policy for them? Who is covered?

Now that we have figured out what to ask the insurance agent, what do we ask the accountant? 

The accountant will tell you to keep a log of everything.  This would be perfect if you had a GPS that logged your every move, but that’s just not practical.   You also have to be realistic about using the vehicle for personal use as well as business use. 

To determine the business-use percentage for a mixed-use vehicle, divide the business miles by the total miles driven, for example, 7,000 (business miles)/10,000 (total miles) = .70, or 70 percent.

If this doesn’t work then on January 1^st in big red letters on your log sheet or calendar write odometer and then write the mileage. After you have logged that then write in big red letters odometer to remind yourself when you need to re-log the mileage.  This beats the heck out of keeping a log every time you make a trip to the office supply store. 

These are just a few areas to consider when using your car for business.  With the right accountant or tax prep person and a good insurance agent your company vehicle should be ready to go to work, with you behind the wheel!