Whether you’re traveling for business, charity, medical purposes, or pleasure, it is important to track your mileage for tax purposes. The IRS has documentation requirements in order to claim business mileage deductions. You will need to keep a mileage log for each year you claim this deduction. Your mileage log must include the starting mileage of your vehicle’s odometer at the beginning of the year and its mileage at the end of the year. Each time you use your vehicle for business purposes, you must record the following items:

• The date of your trip
• Your starting point
• Your destination
• The purpose of your trip
• Your vehicle’s starting mileage
• Your vehicle’s ending mileage

While these documentation requirements can be cumbersome, thanks to advances in technology, there are several mileage tracking apps available to ease the burden.  Here are a few of the mileage tracking apps along with a brief description of each app to help you decide which one is best for you.

MileIQ

MileIQ comes equipped with all the bells and whistles. With features such as smart-drive technology, you can automatically log your drive and calculate that drive’s value. The app easily classifies all of your trips and can save your drive data in the cloud to access it on a different device, if needed. You can even export your data for filing purposes. MileIQ allows you to track 40 drives free of charge each month, but if you need to track more, a subscription service is available. The app, which is available to Android and iPhone users, costs $5.99 per month or $59.99 annually, a price that includes tracking for an unlimited number of drives. Visit the MileIQ homepage at https://www.mileiq.com/.

Mile Cloud

 Mile Cloud is designed to automatically track your mileage while you are driving. All you have to do is classify your driving purpose with Mile Cloud’s customizable trip filters and you will get your detailed monthly and annual mileage reports. All your data is saved to your own iCloud. You can also manually add trips if you forget to bring your device with you. Mile Cloud is free, but there are additional add-ons and subscription services available for a fee. The free version comes with up to 30 trips of automatic mileage logging per month and no limitation for manual trip logging. The premium version costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 annually and comes ad-free with no limitation on automatic mileage logging. This app is only available for iPhone users.

 TrackMyDrive

 TrackMyDrive is an automatic mileage tracking app for expenses, reimbursements, or IRS tax deductions. The app runs in the background and automatically detects all the drives that you make and  lets you categorize them as business or personal. Unlike other mileage logs that only track the “start” and “end” locations, TrackMyDrive tracks your entire trip and calculates your mileage deduction or company reimbursement. TrackMyDrive allows you to track 10 trips a month free of charge or you can pay $8.99 a year for unlimited trips. This app is free but there are more add-ons, if needed and is available through the web as well as for Android and iPhone users.

For any questions on how to track your mileage or what you can deduct on your taxes, always consult a Certified Public Accountant. Submitted by: Dennis Gallant, CPA, Tax Services, Thomas Howell Ferguson P.A. CPAs, (850) 668-8100, dgallant@thf-cpa.com.