Is mileage reimbursement taxable?

[TinkerbelleAbbysMom]

Okay so I already filed my return but recently found out my company added what they have reimbursed me to my gross income. On the 16th and 31st I send in a mileage report form. I am paid .50c per mile over 25 miles/day. I was told today that it is income and therefore taxable. What I have read online seems to contradict that. So just curious if anyone has any input here.

TIA,
LACEY

 

[SamSam]

I'm sure some accountants will post...I hope! Being self-employed, my understanding is, you can claim the mileage as an expense, so that the income is then a 'wash'. In otherwords, what they pay you for your mileage is income but you claim the mileage as an expense, so they wipe each other out. $40.00 income - $40.00 expense = 00.00 net income

 

[TinkerbelleAbbysMom]

Thank you!! So I guess that leads me to if it was 6k is it worth filing an amendment? I sure could use extra money as I am going on a mission trip to Haiti this summer, in addition to our fall disney trip!!

 

[disneylove69]

You can take mileage as a write off on your taxes. My company gives .45 per mileage. They do not put it in as income. The IRS allowable I think is .55 this year. I can write off the difference. It makes for a nice refund. You should do it. Why give away money. If you dont want it you can send the check my way.

 

[msmayor]

You can take mileage as a write off on your taxes. My company gives .45 per mileage. They do not put it in as income. The IRS allowable I think is .55 this year. I can write off the difference. It makes for a nice refund. You should do it. Why give away money. If you dont want it you can send the check my way.

For 2009 the standard mileage rates in effect were:

$0.55/mile for business
$0.24/mile for medical or moving purposes
$0.14/mile for charitable purposes

For 2010 the business rate moves down to $0.50/mile and the medical rate moves down to $0.165/mile.

 

[MN Disneyfan]

Mileage should be a reimbursement and not taxable.

 

[prncess674]

Okay so I already filed my return but recently found out my company added what they have reimbursed me to my gross income. On the 16th and 31st I send in a mileage report form. I am paid .50c per mile over 25 miles/day. I was told today that it is income and therefore taxable. What I have read online seems to contradict that. So just curious if anyone has any input here.

TIA,
LACEY

I would verify that the money was actually included on your W-2. If you are a contractor and received a 1099 then the mileage reimbursement would be on the 1099, but I have never heard of a mileage reimbursement being included in your W-2 income.

 

[disney1990]

I am working as a temp for the Census. We get paid 50 a mile for every mile that we drive. It is listed separately on our pay stub and is not taxed.

 

[BrettS]

Mileage reimbursement is definitely not taxable. Think of it this way... They are reimbursing you for money that you spent on gas and car maintenance and such. Since you were already taxed on the money that you spent you don't get taxed on the reimbursement.

As the others said, the IRS reimbursement rate is .55 per mile, so if you were only reimbursed for .50 per mile you can also claim and extra .05 per mile that you drove for your company in 2009. It sounds like it would definitely be worth filing an amendment, and maybe even an amendment for the past few years if you've been with the company for a while and they've always done it this way.

If they really did report your reimbursement as income on your W2, however, you're probably going to have better luck talking to the accountant at your company and getting them to give you an ammended W2 rather than trying to explain to the IRS why your W2 is wrong.

Good luck,
Brett

 

[TinkerbelleAbbysMom]

Thanks to all of you.
Brett- I did talk to the accountant yesterday and she told me it is considered income. Actually a co-worker is the one that pointed it out to me. This is how they do everyone's. We get separate checks cut form our office to pay us the mileage. Our paychecks come form our main office in St. Louis. Everything I read online indicated that the way they have us turn in a mileage report is it considered an "accountable report" that may not be the term though. But the way I read it, it should not be included. NOw I guess I should go back to my final pay stub and compare again the amounts - honeslty thought I had. Then I maybe should call a cpa to look at it with me.

Thanks again.

 

[BrettS]

Then I maybe should call a cpa to look at it with me.

That's probably the best idea... they should be able to tell you if you're really getting taxed on it and also help you file your amended return(s). I think a CPA would be particularly helpful if you won't be able to get corrected W2's from your company because you'll have to explain to the IRS why you're using different numbers than your W2.

 

[whois figment]

If you submit mileage reports to the company and they reimburse you for that mileage it IS NOT taxable income to you. This is an accountable plan and shoud not affect your taxes in any way. If they did include it in your W2 then is income, you can deduct your mileage as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. IRS pub 17 has more information on this

 

[beavismom]

And, not to knock them, but you can't always trust what an accountant says just because they are an accountant. I just had to fight with a company because they reported some income incorrectly on a 1099 MISC for me. Even though I provide a link and directions to the IRS publication that specifically mentions the circumstance their accountant continued to insist that they were correct. He said I could file it however I wanted... I asked if he was coming with me to the audit. The tax code is very complicated and general accountants don't always know enough about it to give a good answer.

 

[TinkerbelleAbbysMom]

Big thanks to all of you for your help!! I knew DISboards would come through for me! It's such an amazing community full of knowledge!!