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Sign into your accountIRS Reporting Requirements for Mileage Deduction
July 29 2016
I often get asked if you have to include odometer readings for every trip to get the mileage deduction. The IRS does not require odometer readings for every trip. Let's go over the reporting requirements for mileage deduction.
IRS Reporting Requirements for Mileage Deduction
IRS regulations and guidance provide that to qualify for the mileage deduction you are required to have a record of four facts when you drive your car for business:
- time and date of the drive
- total distance of the drive
- destination of the drive, and
- business purpose of the drive. (IRS Reg. 1.274-5T(b)(6); IRS Publication 463, Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses, Table 5-1)
You should have a written record of these facts made at or near the time the car was driven (at least weekly). This record can be an old-fashioned paper mileage log, but IRS regulations specifically provide that "a record of the business use... [of an] automobile, prepared in a computer memory device with the aid of a logging program will constitute an adequate record." (IRS Reg. 1.274-5T(c)(2)(C)(2).)
You do not have to have your car's odometer readings. This is nowhere in the tax law, IRS regulations, IRS publications or elsewhere is there any requirement. All that is required is an adequate written record of the distance you drove.