Help with Schedule C Mileage Deduction and Record Requirements for Self-Employment

Your recordkeeping approach sounds pretty good! As someone who's been filing Schedule C for years, I can tell you that yes, keeping track of dates, number of trips, and the distance between locations is a good foundation. The IRS wants to see contemporaneous records, meaning you're tracking the miles around the time you actually drive them, not estimating at tax time. For even stronger documentation, I'd suggest adding a brief description of the business purpose for each trip in your Excel file. Something like "Picked up materials from Client A" or "Delivered finished product to Client A." This adds another layer of substantiation if you're ever questioned. For your second question - you're absolutely right. Since your home is your principal place of business, trips from home to pick up or deliver materials are considered business miles, not commuting. Commuting is generally defined as travel between your home and a regular work location. The "other" miles category is for all personal use - shopping, vacations, errands, etc. - basically anything that's not business-related.

After struggling with mileage documentation for years, I finally found something that made it easy. I use https://taxr.ai to scan all my mileage records and organize them properly for my Schedule C. The app actually taught me that I needed more than just dates and distances - I needed to track the business purpose too. What I love is that it can analyze whether your mileage claims meet IRS requirements before you submit your taxes. It looks at your documentation and flags anything that might cause issues during an audit. I was actually taking too few deductions before using it!

Okay I gotta admit I was skeptical when I saw that taxr.ai recommendation, but I gave it a try anyway since I was worried about my own mileage documentation. I uploaded my half-assed mileage log (basically just a note in my phone with dates and rough estimates) and the system immediately showed me what was missing according to IRS guidelines. The analysis pointed out that I needed actual odometer readings and more specific business purposes for each trip. Added those details and now I feel way more confident about my deductions. I'm actually claiming more miles now because I have proper documentation to back it up. Didn't realize how much money I was leaving on the table by being too cautious!

If you're still having trouble with the IRS after filing, I had a great experience using https://claimyr.com to actually get through to a human at the IRS. Last year I had questions about my mileage deduction that the IRS website couldn't answer, and I was put on hold for HOURS trying to call them directly. With Claimyr, I got through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes who confirmed that my mileage records were sufficient (I had similar documentation to what you're describing). They have a demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c showing how it works. Saved me so much time and stress!

I need to publicly eat my words here. After posting that skeptical comment, I was still struggling with questions about my mileage deduction that I couldn't get answered. Out of desperation I tried Claimyr and... it actually worked exactly as described. Was connected to an IRS rep in about 25 minutes (while I continued working on other things). The agent confirmed that my mileage log was insufficient because I was missing the business purpose descriptions. She walked me through exactly what I needed to document - saved me from a potential audit headache! Worth every penny just for the peace of mind and not spending half my day on hold.

Something nobody's mentioned yet - make sure you're taking the right deduction rate! For 2023 business mileage it was 65.5 cents per mile for the first half of the year and 67 cents for the second half. I've seen so many people use the wrong rate. Also, don't forget that if you take the standard mileage deduction, you CAN'T also deduct actual expenses like gas, maintenance, etc. It's one or the other, not both. The standard rate is supposed to cover all that stuff.

Has anyone used an app to track mileage as you go? I tried keeping records manually and always forget. Need something automatic.

For your specific situation as an independent contractor working with one client, your recordkeeping approach sounds solid. Just make sure you're also documenting the business purpose for each trip - even though it's repetitive (like "Material pickup from [Client Name]" and "Delivery to [Client Name]"), the IRS wants to see that detail. One thing to consider: since you're doing regular round trips, you can deduct both legs of the journey. So if it's 10 miles each way, that's 20 deductible business miles per round trip. Many people forget to count the return trip home. Also, keep your odometer readings if possible. While not strictly required for the standard mileage method, having start/end odometer readings for business trips adds credibility to your records. I learned this the hard way during an audit a few years back - the agent was much more satisfied when I could show actual odometer documentation rather than just calculated distances. Your Excel approach is perfect. Just make sure to back it up regularly and maybe print a copy for your tax files. Digital records are fine, but having a paper backup never hurts!