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Subject Author Date
Two questions on deductions Passerby 04-15-2007
Posted by Passerby on April 15, 2007, 1:42 pm
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I have to do my own taxes this year, our usual tax preparer
had a sudden family emergency.

I have two questions, that somebody perhaps could help me
with:

1) My company requires, that for every daily mileage expense
submitted, I subtract the mileage from my house to the
office. So, if it's 20 miles from home to the airport, and
25 miles to my office, I can't expense the trip from home to
the airport. Does the same rule apply when claiming tax
deduction for car expense ? I have made probably a few
hundred trips to different sites and vendors from my home
and couldn't expense them because the distance traveled was
less than commute to office.

2) I didn't even request mileage expense reimbursement for
most of the year - our management started to enforce the
policy that mileage should be expensed within 3 months, or
lost. In the past years, we could get away by submitting all
prior mileage expenses around October, when things get a bit
less crazy at work (usually I don't even go to lunch unless
I need to meet with somebody). Can I still claim this unused
reimbursement in my taxes ?

Thanks !

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Posted by John D. Goulden on April 16, 2007, 6:24 pm
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> 1) My company requires, that for every daily mileage expense
> submitted, I subtract the mileage from my house to the
> office. So, if it's 20 miles from home to the airport, and
> 25 miles to my office, I can't expense the trip from home to
> the airport. Does the same rule apply when claiming tax
> deduction for car expense ?
>
> 2) I didn't even request mileage expense reimbursement for
> most of the year ... Can I still claim this unused
> reimbursement in my taxes ?

I wonder if the intent of that rule is to avoid paying
mileage on the commute from home to the office. However,
travel from home to a temporary place of work generally is
a deduction. If you did a lot of that and your employer
didn't reimburse you, you can probably deduct it on your
taxes. It's subject to the 2% floor so it's probably
better for you if your employer reimburses you. Here's a
fairly good page on travel deductions:

http://www.fool.com/school/taxes/taxes04.htm

I'm not sure what you mean by "unused reimbursement" in
part 2 there. If you have legitimate business-related
travel expenses that were not reimbursed by your
employer, you can deduct them on your taxes.

--
John D. Goulden

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<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
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<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
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Posted by Barry Margolin on April 16, 2007, 9:51 pm
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> > 2) I didn't even request mileage expense reimbursement for
> > most of the year ... Can I still claim this unused
> > reimbursement in my taxes ?
....
> I'm not sure what you mean by "unused reimbursement" in
> part 2 there. If you have legitimate business-related
> travel expenses that were not reimbursed by your
> employer, you can deduct them on your taxes.

I always assumed that the non-reimbursement has to be
because the company refuses to reimburse employees for
the expense, NOT because you never bothered to submit
an expense report.

--
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***

<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>

Posted by Stuart A. Bronstein on April 18, 2007, 2:16 am
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>>> 2) I didn't even request mileage expense reimbursement for
>>> most of the year ... Can I still claim this unused
>>> reimbursement in my taxes ?

>> I'm not sure what you mean by "unused reimbursement" in
>> part 2 there. If you have legitimate business-related
>> travel expenses that were not reimbursed by your
>> employer, you can deduct them on your taxes.

> I always assumed that the non-reimbursement has to be
> because the company refuses to reimburse employees for
> the expense, NOT because you never bothered to submit
> an expense report.

The IRS used to say that you couldn't take a casualty loss
if you had insurance but didn't file a claim. The courts
disagreed. Seems like a pretty analogous situation to me.

Stu

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Seth on April 19, 2007, 4:30 am
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> I always assumed that the non-reimbursement has to be
> because the company refuses to reimburse employees for
> the expense, NOT because you never bothered to submit
> an expense report.

If so, he can file now and the company will refuse because
it's too late.

Seth

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

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