claiming tolls and fuel on taxes

[panteramatt 27]

Im starting a new job monday and its about a 40 minute drive. I gotta go over the CBB which is a $5 toll. I have a diesel truck too. Anyway is it worthwhile to save receipts for the tolls and fuel? I have ezpass so can I just print my monthly statements or do I have to get a receipt everyday?

[GRIZ 3,369]

If this is a fixed location where you are going to the work site, doing your work, and coming home that is commuting and you can't deduct commuting expenses. If you are an independent contractor that's different and easier to deduct mileage and tolls.

[panteramatt 27]

Man that sucks!

[FishNJ 2]

dont feel bad

i commute from somerset county to farmingdale new york every day.

75 miles each way, + NJTPK extension + hudson river crossing. $30 round trip.

+$16 if i go GWB and get banged $8 each way at the throgs neck!

thats my every day commute. employee. no deduction.

 

loving cheap fuel right now. add another $10 when it goes back up...

[panteramatt 27]

But if you can claim your boots and uniforms why not your commute?

[Howard 538]

But if you can claim your boots and uniforms why not your commute?

For the same reason you can't carry a gun, it's the law.

[panteramatt 27]

Ha well put!

[Sota 1,191]

don't like the commute? move.

that's the logic, and to a certain extent it makes sense.

it's also why I'll never take a job in NY ever again. bad enough when I have to visit clients in JC.

[panteramatt 27]

Did I say anything about not liking the commute? NO. And its really easy to just sit there and say move. 

[Porthole 15]

You only get to deduct mileage and-or fuel & tolls as an employee if it is to a second job.

[WP22 1,558]

You only get to deduct mileage and-or fuel & tolls as an employee if it is to a second job.

 

But only if you go directly from your first job to your second. And not your commute home from your second job, either.

At least that's how it used to be IIRC.

[FishNJ 2]

If it's work required travel to a location other than your primary site of employment, mileage above your normal commute and, you are not reimbursed for expenses, then you can claim.

Check with your employer on your job description.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GRIZ 3,369]

Man that sucks!

You choose where you work and where you live.

[Old School 611]

That's easy to say Griz! But in a crappy job market , houses worth less than you paid for them, kids in the right schools.

 

You may want to rethink that statement.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[panteramatt 27]

Well put Old school

[GRIZ 3,369]

That's easy to say Griz! But in a crappy job market , houses worth less than you paid for them, kids in the right schools. You may want to rethink that statement. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'll stand by my previous statement. I chose to drive an hour so my kids would be in the right schools. I also had a two hour commute for awhile to work at JFK. I didnt ask to work at JFK but was laterally trasferred there as my employer had offices in Newark, NYC, and JFK. I paid $8 for the Narrows bridge, $3 for Outerbridge, plus GSP. That was in 1989. You do what you have to do in life to get through and not bitch about the government not giving you a break. Maybe the OP needs to rethink if he really needs that diesel truck and maybe should get something more fuel efficient. You do what you have to do.

[panteramatt 27]

This OP is getting a jetta tdi

[AlDente67 563]

And if you do go from the office to another site (client, etc), the mileage rate from office to secondary site is meant to include the gas, and tolls should be expensed normally.  Most companies use the published IRS rate, but some are stingy and pay back less even though they in turn write those costs off.

 

Here is a neat one...I've worked with several auto sales groups and/or manufacturers.  Many of their employees were getting company cars to use at will, and then also getting 25 cents per mile to drive the free car (not counting any benefit-in-kind income reporting).

[Polak 3]

This OP is getting a jetta tdi

Assembled in Mexico. Two friends had them and they were both junk. If you're buying TDI get the Passat (US made) or Golf (German made).

[1LtCAP 4,264]

Assembled in Mexico. Two friends had them and they were both junk. If you're buying TDI get the Passat (US made) or Golf (German made).

go for the golf. the American made vw's are shit too.

[Newtonian 453]

You cannot deduct auto or travel/commuting costs if you are an employee.

 

If you are self-employed then you use one of the Schedule C worksheets to compute these costs individually, or you can simply take the (amazingly) generous standard mileage deduction.

 

Some employees use a "cafeteria plan" (Section 125 Plan) to help employees save some tax $$ on things like commuting, out of pocket medical expenses, etc. 

[koontz946 0]

Talk to your accountant (if you have one)... My employer's office is midtown Manhattan, but I work on construction jobs throughout the 5 boroughs.

 

I've heard of coworkers claiming subway fare (@ ~$1500/yr it's no chump change) because the office is in one place, and the job site is in another.

 

I've been walking to my job sites for the last 2 years (after my primary commute) so I haven't brought it up to my accountant, but it's something to consider.

[panteramatt 27]

Yes Ive never owned anything but a Ford but I love diesels and the VW get the best mpg of almost anythying out there and last forever. After a LOT of research on these Ive found they are pretty shitty but I am very mechanically inclined and can fix most if not all of their shortcomings. Plus you can easily make them FLY! Im finding some really nice 06 jettas which I think look really nice for around $4000 or under in really good shape. 

[buell508 6]

you can deduct if you are on a temp site (construction) the distance from the shop/office to the site. 

[Newtonian 453]

You only get to deduct mileage and-or fuel & tolls as an employee if it is to a second job.

I've been doing my own taxes for almost 30 years. For the past 26 it's been a full 1040, schedule C, investments, charities, wife's W2s, my 1099s, etc. etc. etc.

 

I never heard of this second job deduction. 

[WP22 1,558]

I've been doing my own taxes for almost 30 years. For the past 26 it's been a full 1040, schedule C, investments, charities, wife's W2s, my 1099s, etc. etc. etc.

 

I never heard of this second job deduction. 

 

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p463/ch04.html

 

Two places of work.   If you work at two places in one day, whether or not for the same employer, you can deduct the expense of getting from one workplace to the other. However, if for some personal reason you do not go directly from one location to the other, you cannot deduct more than the amount it would have cost you to go directly from the first location to the second.

 

  Transportation expenses you have in going between home and a part-time job on a day off from your main job are commuting expenses. You cannot deduct them.