Oil Change Write-Off?

Some self-employed people do not realize that their vehicle expenses can be included on their list of deductions. Most people choose to use the Internal Revenue Service’s generous standard mileage deduction instead of tallying up expenses. If you are self-employed, it is important to know that in certain cases you can choose to do one or other.

If you choose to use the standard mileage deductions, you get to deduct fifty cents per mile driven due to work at a particular site. Because this tends to provide a very generous sum, most people use this rather than expense totals. A little research will help you learn more about the standard mileage deductible and whether it can save you money.

If you are excellent at keeping track of all your receipts and have saved them all for the past tax year, then you may qualify for vehicle expense deductions. In order for this to pay off for you, you have to prove that the car is necessary to your business. You also need to keep track of all the places driven to and any money going toward driving.

Aside from that, you need to keep all receipts from maintenance, oil change or other mechanic services. There are a lot of necessary expenses that go into maintaining a car. Make sure you save back all of your receipts and write down in a journal or log, what the receipt is for and why.

If you drive your car a lot of miles for your job, you will need to get an oil change fairly regularly. This is the type of expense that is easily deductible for self-employed people. Save you receipt for any services done to your vehicle and keep it in the log. Keeping and recording everything in your log will keep you organized in case of an audit.

If you have questions about the business expense deductibles or about expenses associated with your car, ask a tax professional. They can explain to you why your oil change is deductible. They can also explain to you why it may not be deductible.

In fact, if you are self-employed and have made a majority of your income from independent contractor jobs or other self-employment opportunities, it is important to have a tax professional on hand to work with. They can help you get organized and stay out of trouble with the Internal Revenue Service.

A tax professional can also explain the many other ways that you can save money this tax season. There are so many things that you can deduct as a self-employed person. Everything from your vehicle to supplies to your home office can be deducted on your 1040 tax form.

If you are self-employed and you use your car for your business, then this year write-off your oil change as a business expense.