You don’t have to be in business to deduct certain vehicle expenses

When you think about tax deductions for vehicle-related expenses, business driving may come to mind. However, businesses aren’t the only taxpayers that can deduct driving expenses on their returns. Individuals may also be able to deduct them in certain circumstances. Unfortunately, under current law, you may be unable to deduct as much as you could years ago.

How the TCJA changed deductions

For years before 2018, miles driven for business, moving, medical and charitable purposes were potentially deductible. For 2018 through 2025, business and moving miles are deductible only in much more limited circumstances. The changes resulted from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which could also affect your tax benefit from medical and charitable miles.

Before 2018, if you were an employee, you potentially could deduct business mileage not reimbursed by your employer as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. The deduction was subject to a 2% of adjusted gross income (AGI) floor, meaning that mileage was deductible only to the extent that your total miscellaneous itemized deductions for the year exceeded 2% of your AGI. However, for 2018 through 2025, you can’t deduct the mileage regardless of your AGI. Why? The TCJA suspends all miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the 2% floor.

If you’re self-employed, business mileage can still be deducted from self-employment income. It’s not subject to the 2% floor and is still deductible for 2018 through 2025, as long as it otherwise qualifies.

Medical and moving

Miles driven for a work-related move before 2018 were generally deductible “above the line” (itemizing wasn’t required to claim the deduction). However, for 2018 through 2025, under the TCJA, moving expenses are deductible only for active-duty military members.

If you itemize, miles driven for health-care-related purposes are deductible as part of the medical expense deduction. For example, you can include in medical expenses the amounts paid when you use a car to travel to doctors’ appointments. For 2024, medical expenses are deductible to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your AGI.

The limits for deducting expenses for charitable miles driven are set by law and don’t change yearly based on inflation. But keep in mind that the charitable driving deduction can only be claimed if you itemize. For 2018 through 2025, the standard deduction has nearly doubled, so not as many taxpayers are itemizing. Depending on your total itemized deductions, you might be better off claiming the standard deduction, in which case you’ll get no tax benefit from your charitable miles (or from your medical miles, even if you exceed the AGI floor).

Rates depend on the trip

Rather than keeping track of your actual vehicle expenses, you can use a standard mileage rate to compute your deductions. The 2024 rates vary depending on the purpose:

• Business, 67 cents per mile.
• Medical, 21 cents per mile.
• Moving for active-duty military, 21 cents per mile.
• Charitable, 14 cents per mile.

 
In addition to deductions based on the standard mileage rate, you may deduct related parking fees and tolls. There are also substantiation requirements, which include tracking miles driven.

We can answer any questions

Do you have questions about deducting vehicle-related expenses? Contact us. We can help you with your tax planning.