If your employer provides you with a car, you may be able to deduct the actual expenses of operating that car for business purposes. The amount you can deduct depends on the amount that your employer included in your income and the business and personal miles you drove during the year. You cannot use the standard mileage rate.
Value reported on Form W-2. Your employer can figure and report either the actual value of your personal use of the car or the value of the car as if you used it only for personal purposes (100% income inclusion). Your employer must separately state the amount if 100% of the annual lease value was included in your income. If you are unsure of the amount included in your Form W-2, ask your employer.
Full value included in your income. You can deduct the value of the business use of an employer-provided car if your employer reported 100% of the value of the car in your income. On your 2003 Form W-2, the amount of the value will be included in box 1, Wages, tips, other compensation, and box 12.
To claim your expenses, complete Part II, Sections A and C, of Form 2106. Enter your actual expenses on line 23 of Section C and include the entire value of the employer-provided car on line 25. Complete the rest of the form.
Less than full value included in your income. If less than the full annual lease value of the car was included on your Form W-2, this means that your Form W-2 only includes the value of your personal use of the car. Do not enter this value on your Form 2106; it is not deductible.
If you paid any actual costs (that your employer did not provide or reimburse you for) to operate the car, you can deduct the business portion of those costs. Examples of costs that you may have are gas, oil, and repairs. Complete Part II, Sections A and C, of Form 2106. Enter your actual costs on line 23 of Section C and leave line 25 blank. Complete the rest of the form.
Information courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service.
