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Question about mileage deductions. I've been doing it all wrong for 5 years.
So I'm sitting with my tax guy last week for the first time (used to do TurboTax myself). He looks at my mileage log and goes "you know you can deduct the actual car costs too right?" I had no clue. I've been taking the standard rate this whole time. I drive a 2012 Honda Civic that's practically falling apart. He showed me the math and I could have saved like $400 more each year if I did actual expenses instead. Made me wonder what else I'm missing. Anyone else find out they were doing some deduction totally backwards for years? What tipped you off?
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ruby_bell472mo ago
Oh man, @craig.olivia that's exactly how I felt when I found out. For me it was the home office deduction, I had no clue you could do the simplified square footage method instead of tracking every single thing. I had been keeping receipts for years and calculating percentages like a crazy person. Turns out I could've just taken $5 per square foot up to 300 feet and been done with it. Still kicking myself over all that wasted time.
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smith.lee2mo ago
Right? @ruby_bell47 that square footage thing is gold. On a related note I once tried to deduct my dog as a guard dog for my equipment and my accountant just stared at me.
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