I have a question re using your personal car for business purposes.

[KatyaR]

We have someone at work who uses their car to take the company's mail to the post office daily. Many times he's running late so he takes the mail to the post office that is a mile or so from his apartment as he is going home for the day. In the past he has expensed mileage for this with no problem. He now has a new supervisor (who doesn't know diddley, Bo or otherwise) who says that he can only expense the distance from the post office to his home, not the total miles one way as he has done in the past.

Is this correct? I thought that if you were using your car for business reasons, you could expense the total mileage. Yes, he is going home, but he is doing business on his way.

I would appreciate your help. This kid doesn't make a lot of money as it is, and this is a big deal for him. I'd like to help him out if I can.

[county worker]

1. He can deduct the mileage from work to the post office and back to work.

Nothing more.

If he drives from work to the post office then home he can deduct the mileage from work to the post office and any mileage from the post office to home that is greater than the mileage from work to home. Basically any mileage that is not for personal use is deductable.

Now if he is paid by the company all the way home the part that is personal is ordinary income.

[flvegan]

2. I would think he could expense every mile he has the mail in his possession.

What the Super is suggesting sounds dumb to me.

[Mike 03]

3. Wow, this is a tough one and it brings back a lot of memories.

I used my car all day in my first real job that I actually liked (a gopher in the film industry), but it was my decision, so I never expensed gas or mechanical charges. My reason was that all of the company cars were stick shift, and I simply never learned to drive a stick shift. I made peanuts, but I was so grateful for the chance to work in this industry I didn't care.

But later on, as a writer, I would expense long trips if they were directly related to research.

If this is a big deal for him, and he depends upon being able to expense this, I think it would be awesome and kind to help him out by permitting him to expense this.

That would be the kind of "nice deed" that inspires everyone who hears about it. I would probably do it if I could.

[CharmCity]

4. This sounds like the issue is getting reimbursed by company...

If that's the case, it's up to the company, which can do whatever it wants.
Deductions refer to taxes, which is a different matter.

[KatyaR]

12. That's right, the problem is getting paid for using his car,

not for anything regarding taxes.

[vanboggie]

5. He's working till he drops off that mail

I had a lot of off-site trips to make in my former life as a cube rat and that's the way I always figured mileage anyway. As a matter of fact, he is on company business till he drops off that mail, so if he was hurt in an accident or anything, I believe he would be covered by workers comp. The mile from post office to home would be the only thing not included in the business mileage I'd think.

Edited to add that if the dopey new supevisor balks, I'd tell him to take the mail to the PO himself or ... er, nevermind.

[KatyaR]

10. I've already made that suggestion, as well as

telling the employee to get a couple of quotes from couriers and hiring them pick up the mail every day (at a much greater expense than paying his mileage). Our mailman usually comes early in the day, so we could hold the mail until the next day for him to take, but that would make people mad, and in our company, "we don't do that." :sarcasm:

The "supervisor" is an almost 30-something who has never supervised an employee until a year ago, and her knowledge set is limited. She's decided to pick this poor guy to death, and he's losing his mind. I'm hoping he can work something out.

[taterguy]

6. It's up to the company

They can set their own rules about what they reimburse.

But they have to make the policy in advance.

Of course the Internet is a terrible place to ask questions like this. I could just be making shit up.

[KatyaR]

11. LOL!!

:rofl:

[madrchsod]

7. my wife is in a similar situation

she`s paid to travel to several places during her shift but not from the last place to home. if she stops at the office she`s paid to the office.

your friend is covered by the companies insurance/workman's comp if he is injured in an accident that was`t his fault

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Office-Post Office-Office

Technically .... that's it.

[crimsonblue]

9. Just tell him to "accidentally" leave a piece of mail in his back seat every night...

Problem solved.

[Sydnie]

13. mileage reimbursement vs hours worked

I'm having a similar disagreement with my company at the moment too, so I have been doing my research on this.

Mileage reimbursement is not regulated by law but rather by company policy. Companies don't have to offer any reimbursement for these expenses during a regular commute. The feds reimburse after a 40 mile a day deduction and anything in excess of that can be used for tax purposes but are not required to be paid for by an employer.

Hours worked are a different matter. If your friend lives his office and drives to the post office for work purposes, his day begins when he arrives at the post office since he is doing work for the company at that point. He should be paid his usual wage (assuming it's hourly) from that moment on even though he has not reached the place of work.

Now, if they were grateful for the service that he provides, they would offer him the reimbursement for his mileage from the post office to the place of work. They MUST pay him for his time from the moment he arrives at the post office anyway and kicking in a few bucks to cover his expenses would be a nice way of showing their appreciation.

Now, with my company, we have a mileage policy that is a bit more progressive than the federal reimbursement allowance (30 miles instead of 40) and they do pay drive time and mileage between any multiple locations that we require the employees to visit in the course of a day. Where my argument with my company begins is what they consider a "work place" for that policy to kick in. I work from home in a home office with supplies and equipment provided by the company, therefore I see my home office as my usual "place of work". I occasionally have to go out in the world to do things for work (yes, post office runs are included in that) and think that the mileage deduction policy should not apply to me or other with my same job function in other areas. I know it's considered "time worked" since I am doing work for the company when I go ut, but I don't want to deduct any mileage from my drive since my office is in my home. Their policy has holes in it and they are large enough for me to drive through in my opinion.

[KatyaR]

14. Thank you for this. I think I've figure out what to tell him.

He is an hourly employee and, by law, must be paid for all time worked. If he's taking mail to the post office, that would be work, and he would be paid for that, so therefore he would be using his personal car for business use from the office to the post office. I'm going to have him run this by HR to make sure, but I think this is legit. If he were injured, he would be covered by workers comp, so this is work, and he should be able to get mileage to the post office, because he wouldn't be going there otherwise.

His "supervisor" is complaining because she doesn't think it's "fair" that he gets mileage for going to the post office. She is a salaried employee whose boss runs her all over creation, and I guess she doesn't expense her mileage. I don't think she's never had any training on employment law or such, and this is causing problems.

As for the company being "grateful" that he provides this service--nah (actually, it's a part of his job description). The bosses are a**holes. For example, we had a horrible ice storm here this week, schools were closed for three days. We were all notified that the office was closed for the first day, but when we went back to work on Wednesday, we found out that the bosses were pissed because, even though they had made the call to close, they went ahead and came to work, but no one else showed up. So now the decision has been made that we will never, EVER again close for weather. My boss got into a pissing match with one of the other bosses, and when everyone else got to leave by 1 pm on Monday when the storm started, we had to stay until 4 pm--just on principle, don't you know.

:banghead:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

15. It's Up To The Company.

I also don't see anything unfair about him only getting reimbursed for the part of the trip that's out of the way. Makes total sense really. Why should he be reimbursed for the mileage he'd be using to drive home anyway?