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Mileage or vehicle write-off?

You bought a truck or van for work. The tax law gives you two ways to claim it, and you have to pick one. This tells you which one puts more money in your pocket — this year, and over the next five.

Tax year
Way 1 · Count the miles

Cents per business mile

You do not add up any bills. You just count the miles you drove for work and multiply by the rate the IRS sets. Simple, and you can use it every year. But it will never give you one big deduction.

Way 2 · Write off the vehicle

Cost of the vehicle, plus real bills

You deduct what the vehicle cost you — often most of it in the first year — plus your real gas, insurance and repair bills. Much bigger up front. But once you do this, you can never go back to counting miles on this vehicle.

Tell us about the vehicle

The price you paid, before trade-in.
A percentage. It has to be more than 50% to write off the vehicle cost.
Before this vehicle. Leave blank if you are not sure — we will not cap the write-off, but the real limit is your profit.
Gas, insurance, repairs, tires, registration. Not the price of the vehicle.
A percentage. Add your state rate too if you want the full picture. Self-employed? Add about 15% for self-employment tax.
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Keep the records that back this up

Either way you go, the IRS wants to see where you drove and why. Our free Mileage Log does that for you, and sends the totals straight to your tax return.

Open the free Mileage Log See all tax calculators