{"id":20445,"date":"2017-06-14T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/"},"modified":"2017-08-09T15:59:55","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T15:59:55","slug":"standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/","title":{"rendered":"I have a question about the mileage deduction rules when filing a tax return.  Should I use the standard mileage deducti"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>To determine if you would benefit most from the standard mileage deduction or actual vehicle expenses you will have to review your specific circumstance. choice based on your specific situation.<\/p>\n<p>Standard mileage is available unless:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You use more than five vehicles at one time for your business.<\/li>\n<li>You claimed actual expenses after 1997 for a vehicle you leased.<\/li>\n<li>You claimed actual expenses in the first year you used the vehicle for business.<\/li>\n<li>You&#8217;re a rural mail carrier who received a qualified reimbursement.<\/li>\n<li>You claimed a depreciation deduction other than straight-line depreciation for your vehicle in a prior year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Both methods require you to keep track of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your business and personal mileage<\/li>\n<li>The business purpose for all business mileage<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you use the actual expense method, you&#8217;ll also need to keep track of receipts for your vehicle&#8217;s:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gas and oil<\/li>\n<li>Maintenance<\/li>\n<li>Interest paid<\/li>\n<li>Other automobile expenses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Regardless of the method you use, you can claim the business percentage of these:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Personal property taxes paid<\/li>\n<li>Any tolls and parking fees<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you&#8217;re self-employed, you can only deduct interest expenses and personal property taxes for your business auto expenses. These expenses aren&#8217;t permitted for employee vehicle expenses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To determine if you would benefit most from the standard mileage deduction or actual vehicle expenses you will have to review your specific circumstance. choice based on your specific situation. Standard mileage is available unless: You use more than five vehicles at one time for your business. You claimed actual expenses after 1997 for a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjustments-and-deductions","category-filing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Standard Mileage Deduction Vs. Actual Expenses | H&amp;R Block<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Should you take the standard mileage deduction or claim actual expenses? Learn more from the tax experts at H&amp;R Block.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I have a question about the mileage deduction rules when filing a tax return. Should I use the standard mileage deducti\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Should you take the standard mileage deduction or claim actual expenses? Learn more from the tax experts at H&amp;R Block.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-14T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-09T15:59:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HRBlock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/filing\\\/adjustments-and-deductions\\\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/filing\\\/adjustments-and-deductions\\\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"H&amp;R Block\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0451551be86ad17708cdd08a71391fcf\"},\"headline\":\"I have a question about the mileage deduction rules when filing a tax return. Should I use the standard mileage deducti\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-14T12:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-09T15:59:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/filing\\\/adjustments-and-deductions\\\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":219,\"articleSection\":[\"Adjustments and deductions\",\"Filing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/filing\\\/adjustments-and-deductions\\\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/filing\\\/adjustments-and-deductions\\\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\\\/\",\"name\":\"Standard Mileage Deduction Vs. Actual Expenses | H&R Block\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-14T12:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-09T15:59:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0451551be86ad17708cdd08a71391fcf\"},\"description\":\"Should you take the standard mileage deduction or claim actual expenses? Learn more from the tax experts at H&R Block.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/filing\\\/adjustments-and-deductions\\\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/filing\\\/adjustments-and-deductions\\\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/filing\\\/adjustments-and-deductions\\\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I have a question about the mileage deduction rules when filing a tax return. Should I use the standard mileage deducti\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"H&amp;R Block\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0451551be86ad17708cdd08a71391fcf\",\"name\":\"H&amp;R Block\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/BlockAuthor.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/BlockAuthor.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/resource-center.hrblock.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/BlockAuthor.jpg\",\"caption\":\"H&amp;R Block\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/hrblock.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/hrblock\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/HRBlock\"]}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Standard Mileage Deduction Vs. Actual Expenses | H&R Block","description":"Should you take the standard mileage deduction or claim actual expenses? Learn more from the tax experts at H&R Block.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I have a question about the mileage deduction rules when filing a tax return. Should I use the standard mileage deducti","og_description":"Should you take the standard mileage deduction or claim actual expenses? Learn more from the tax experts at H&R Block.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/","og_site_name":"H&amp;R Block","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock","article_published_time":"2017-06-14T12:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-08-09T15:59:55+00:00","author":"H&amp;R Block","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@HRBlock","twitter_site":"@hrblock","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"H&amp;R Block","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/"},"author":{"name":"H&amp;R Block","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/0451551be86ad17708cdd08a71391fcf"},"headline":"I have a question about the mileage deduction rules when filing a tax return. Should I use the standard mileage deducti","datePublished":"2017-06-14T12:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-09T15:59:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/"},"wordCount":219,"articleSection":["Adjustments and deductions","Filing"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/","name":"Standard Mileage Deduction Vs. Actual Expenses | H&R Block","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-06-14T12:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-09T15:59:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/0451551be86ad17708cdd08a71391fcf"},"description":"Should you take the standard mileage deduction or claim actual expenses? Learn more from the tax experts at H&R Block.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/standard-mileage-deduction-vs-actual-expenses\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I have a question about the mileage deduction rules when filing a tax return. Should I use the standard mileage deducti"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/","name":"H&amp;R Block","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/0451551be86ad17708cdd08a71391fcf","name":"H&amp;R Block","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/BlockAuthor.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/BlockAuthor.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/BlockAuthor.jpg","caption":"H&amp;R Block"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/hrblock.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock","https:\/\/x.com\/HRBlock"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}