Mileage as a Tax Write Off

It’s not quite that time of the year, though this week (or at least part it) I will be fixing my books up to submit to my accountant. December 31st marks the end of the first official fiscal year for my business. That means I’ll be going over what I have documented, checking my receipts, and finding last minute expenses and write-offs to lower my bottom line and try to reduce the magic number I’m going to owe Uncle Sam. One thing I hadn’t realized until late in the year was that mileage on your car is a write off.

Since I did find that out, I’ve been keeping a notebook of everywhere I drive and the mileage it took to get there and back. But to backtrack and make sure I’m including all of my meetings, trips to the bank and stores, etc., Google came to the rescue. I looked over Google Calendar to check for meetings I attended and then put the addresses in Google Maps to get a approximate mileage to document. I also looked at bank slips for dates I took those trips, and dates on old receipts to document trips to the store. Turns out I will have a nice little deduction now.

This helpful tip also helped me to start thinking of other things I might not think of as write offs. Remember, anything that you use for your business can be considered tax deductible- mileage and gas, tolls you might pay, cell phone, books, etc. If you’re thinking about starting a business, or just starting, it’s definitely worth talking to an accountant to get you on track.

PS- Soon I’mstarting a new blog called, “Freelancing the Net.” I’ll be talking about how I got my start and providing helpful tips and resources for freelancers just starting out, so keep a look out for that in early 2009!