For the year 2010 you can only claim $.50 per mile. That’s the new standard rate which is below the $.555 cents per mile the last 6 months of 2008. And below the 2009 level also.
This only applies for the business miles you put on your car. They’re cracking down hard on this in the enforcement department of the IRS so don’t go nuts with it. Make sure the miles are legitimate and you have records to back it up. Business mileage and earned income credit are 2 of the most heavily scrutinized parts of the tax code every year so I advise not pushing your luck.
You can use the actual expenses method but I don’t recommend it because the standard rate has a depreciation component which allows you to depreciate every year even if your car is worth virtually nothing! With actual expenses you can only take them until your car is fully depreciated then you get no deduction so clearly the standard rate makes more sense to use.
Here’s another article talking about how for 2009 taxes it’s $.55 per mile which is good. But for 2010 is dropping down to $.50. The medical miles and moving miles drops from $.24 per mile in 2009 to $.165 per mile for medical or moving miles expenses.
