Can I claim side mirror replacement as tax deduction for my rideshare car?

The side mirror replacement would not be deductible separately when you're claiming the Standard Mileage Deduction. The Standard Mileage Rate is designed to cover all costs of operating your vehicle including maintenance, repairs, insurance, gas, oil, and depreciation - both functional and cosmetic repairs fall under this umbrella. While you're correct that certain expenses like car washes and cleaning supplies can still be deducted separately when taking the Standard Mileage Deduction (as they're considered business expenses rather than vehicle expenses), a side mirror replacement is considered part of the vehicle's operating costs already factored into the mileage rate. If you wanted to deduct the actual cost of the mirror repair, you would need to use the Actual Expenses method instead of Standard Mileage. This would mean tracking all your car-related expenses (gas, maintenance, repairs, insurance, etc.) and deducting the business percentage of those costs rather than using the per-mile rate.

I went through something similar with my rideshare taxes last year. I was totally confused about what I could deduct separately vs what was included in the mileage rate. After trying to figure it out on my own and getting nowhere, I ended up using https://taxr.ai to analyze my expenses. They looked at my receipts and actually explained exactly which expenses I could claim separately even when taking the standard mileage deduction. Saved me a ton of time trying to figure out what counted as "vehicle operating costs" vs other business expenses.

Just wanted to update after trying https://taxr.ai that somebody recommended above. They reviewed my rideshare expenses and showed me exactly what I could deduct separately vs what was included in the standard mileage rate. Turns out I had been missing several legitimate deductions! They even explained how to handle expenses like phone mounts, dashcams, etc. that I wasn't sure about. Definitely worth checking out if you're a rideshare driver trying to maximize deductions while staying compliant.

I had a similar question last tax season and spent literally 3 days trying to get through to someone at the IRS who could give me a straight answer about rideshare deductions. After being on hold for hours, I gave up and tried https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes. They have this cool demo video at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c showing how it works. The agent confirmed that side mirror repairs are considered vehicle expenses already covered by the standard mileage rate, but pointed me to some other deductions I didn't know about for rideshare drivers.

Ok I need to eat my words from above. After being frustrated with trying to get tax help for my rideshare business, I decided to try that Claimyr service someone mentioned. Honestly didn't expect much but I was desperate. This thing ACTUALLY WORKS. Got a call back in about 35 minutes and was connected to an IRS agent who answered all my questions about rideshare deductions. Saved me hours of being on hold. The agent confirmed that with standard mileage, repairs like side mirrors are already included, but helped me identify several other deductions I was missing.

Another thing to consider with your side mirror - if you have rideshare insurance, some policies might cover cosmetic damages with a lower deductible than regular repairs. Worth checking with your insurance before paying out of pocket for things like this. I learned this the hard way after paying for similar repairs myself!

For what it's worth, I switched from standard mileage to actual expenses last year for my rideshare taxes. It's definitely more work tracking everything, but I ended up with a MUCH bigger deduction. If your car is newer or you have lots of repairs/high costs, actual expenses method might be worth considering.