Self-employed photographer reimbursed for mileage in pay - can I still deduct standard 58.5 cents/mile on taxes?

This is a good question about a nuanced tax situation! When you're self-employed but receiving reimbursements, you need to be careful about how you handle the miles on your tax return. You can't "double-dip" by claiming a deduction for expenses that were already reimbursed. If your manager is paying you for those miles, even if it's lumped into your regular payment, that money is essentially covering your vehicle expenses. You should only deduct miles that weren't reimbursed. What you should do is report all your income (including the reimbursement portion) as business income on your Schedule C. Then, you can deduct the business mileage for only the miles that weren't already reimbursed. If you were reimbursed for all of your business miles, then you wouldn't have any mileage deduction left to claim.

I had a similar situation last year and discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which really helped me figure out my contractor mileage situation. I was getting partial reimbursements but wasn't sure how to handle it on my taxes. Their document analysis tool looked at my payment statements and mileage logs, then showed exactly how to report everything correctly on my Schedule C. The tool pointed out that I needed to track which miles were reimbursed versus unreimbursed, and helped me calculate the exact deduction I was eligible for. It also flagged that I needed to keep better documentation of my reimbursement structure to support my tax position in case of audit.

Just wanted to follow up - I tried taxr.ai after seeing this thread and wow! It sorted through my messy situation with 3 different clients all paying different mileage rates. The tool actually found that one client was reimbursing me at a higher rate than the IRS standard (company policy), which meant I needed to report that portion as income. Would have completely missed that without the document analysis. Definitely helped me avoid a potential audit flag while maximizing my legitimate deductions.

Speaking of audits, I had the IRS question my mileage deductions last year and spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone who could actually help resolve it. After endless busy signals, I tried Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and they got me through to an actual IRS agent in under an hour. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that my mileage documentation was actually sufficient (despite what the letter claimed) and resolved the issue on the spot. Saved me months of stress and potentially hiring a tax pro to deal with it. If you're claiming mileage deductions, especially in complex situations like yours, having this option in your back pocket is really worth it if questions come up.

I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway because I've been trying to reach the IRS for THREE MONTHS about missing tax credits. Used the service yesterday, and got a call back in about 40 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. They fixed my issue immediately and I'm getting my refund next week. Crazy that it worked so well after all the time I wasted trying to call myself. Definitely keeping this for next tax season.

Just to add my 2 cents as someone who's been self-employed for 10+ years... make sure whatever mileage you're claiming, you have a detailed mileage log with dates, starting/ending odometer readings, business purpose, etc. The IRS is really strict about documentation for mileage claims, especially for self-employed folks. If you're using a smartphone app to track mileage, make sure it's one that records all these details. I got audited in 2021 and was able to defend every mile I claimed because I had proper logs.

Careful about one thing - if your manager issues you a 1099-NEC at the end of the year, that includes both your pay AND the mileage reimbursement. In this case, you absolutely CAN deduct the mileage on Schedule C since you're being taxed on the entire amount. If he's just paying you without any tax documents, you still need to report all income, but the mileage deduction issue is exactly as others described.