Mileage Reimbursement Question

[jj26]

Had a quick question maybe somebody knows from past experience, and it's one I haven't found a clear answer for.

I go to one of my company's satellite offices anywhere from 2 to 4 times a month driving my car and I get reimbursed for mileage. It's anywhere from $110 to $220 depending on how many times I go. I submit my expense report once a month and get a check for it a couple weeks later.

Is this considered income of any sort if you file for Chapter 7? Do you list it somewhere if it's considered in your case? Do you use it in the means test?

Thanks

[kathy4530050]

Hi JJ--

I don't know this for sure--but I am going to wager a guess that you don't need to report this as income or maybe just need to list it as an expense that comes off from your income. I am self-employed and my mileage is always an expense I claim and I am listing it in my bk as a business expense. Also, when I bill a client for mileage, that mileage reimbursement is buried in whatever payment I receive (along with the rest of my expenses). If I don't pull all of my expenses out of these checks and provide plenty of detail, it looks like my income is about DOUBLE what it actually is. Although you are not self-employed it seems totally reasonable to me that your reimbursable expenses should not be counted as income.

Best of luck,

Kathy

[Flamingo]

This was discussed in this forum somewhere in the recent past - to the OP...did you do a forum search on this subject/matter? To be on the safe side, check with your attorney on this one.

Commuting costs to and from your employerare not tax deductible; but are if you drive from your home office to another employer office location or have a second job that you go to from your first job. That mileage can be deducted under the 2% of income section on Schedule A. You are receiving reimbursement under IRS guidelines for mileage incurred. Expenses you submit to your employer for reimbursement are tallied by your employer and you will note the listing of such on your paystubs or printout when you are paid and there is also a box on your yearly W-2 which shows the amounts of certain deductions and reimbursements. All this information is reported to the IRS.

[EricaCallaha]

We have mileage reimbursements every month and we are not taxed on them. We also receive a car allowance that is reported as income but is adjusted every quarter to give back the taxes.

The mileage is an out of pocket expense that your company is reimbursing you for. IT IS NOT INCOME. We did not have to report any monies that are reimbursed to us for expenses through our bankruptcy. It also is not reported to the IRS and is listed no where on our paystubs. For the business, it is an expense of doing business, for you...they are merely paying for your gas and wear and tear on your car to get there.

Therefore, you shouldn't be using it in your means test. We had the same question as my hub's company gives him a car allowance (which we used in the means test as that is considered income that we are taxed on), pays for long distance on our home phone, internet service and cell phone. All of the other stuff we did not include and were told not to include. But we also didn't put the expense of these things in the means test either.

Good luck...Hope it helps.

[momof3b1g]

Ours are listed on dh's paycheck. Our lawyer said we had to add it to the income. But then you also add it in your expenses. For us anyway it was almost always more then we actually spent for gas. Depending on how much gas was at the time of course. But it usually was a wash. You add it to your income but also have that added in to your transportation expenses because you are not really spending all that on gas if your are being reimbursed. HTH

[CatsInTrouble]

Our lawyer also added hubby's reimbursements as income. THese were gas, some weird health insurance payments (we pay for contacts, the company pays us back) and when my husband paid for a conference and the company paid him back--- ALL of these got listed on our income by our lawyer when figuring out median.

He said three things: better safe than sorry, all of these could be argued down if we HAD to, and he's NEVER been audited and he thinks that is why.