Mileage Reimbursement?

Question

What is the rate to use to reimburse employees for mileage traveled for work. Also does anyone have a mileage log the we can use.

Or any ideas of what we can do to keep a better track of employee mileage?

Answer 1

It used to be up to .35 cents per mile, but it may have gone up in the past couple of years. I always bought a mileage log book at Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, or any store that sells office supplies. They are pretty cheap (less  than $5.00, I think, and that's probably on the high end) and I don't believe you can legally use someone else's mileage log book. If you want to try to remember to keep up with your mileage, add a couple of the brightly colored little stickie notes to the lower part of your front window, your inside rear-view window and on the driver's side window with MILEAGE written on it. If you don't have someone in the driver's seat, you can always keep your mileage log book there so that you see it every so often and won't be as likely to forget. Be sure that you write each employee's name and MILEAGE in bold, big, letters on the front of each book. You will have to show it at some point when you are deducting it from your taxes. You could try checking with your city and state's comptroller's office or the IRS to see how much the current mileage reimbursement fee is, depending on what state you live in because I don't know if this varies by state or is regulated by the Feds.

Answer 2

According to the IRS, there are standard mileage rates of 48.5 cents per mile for business miles driven; 20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and 14 cents per mile driven in service to a charitable organization.

This link contains a free downloadable Microsoft template for Excel to create your own mileage log: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templa...

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Most employers don't reimburse you for commuting to and from work. You should check your employee handbook or talk to your manager to find out if your company does it. If you are lucky enough to work for a company that reimburses you for commuting mileage, you can buy mileage log books at Office Max, or at most other office supply stores.

Answer 4

It is up to each employer at what rate to reimburse mileage.  The IRS standard of 49 cents or whatever it is now is only for tax deduction purposes.  Employers don't have to use it.

Answer 5

It sounds like you're not so much worried about your own mileage, but your employees'.

As mentioned above, currently 48.5 cents per mile is the IRS standard.  One thing you can use, I assume, is the various mapping and direction software available for free at maps.yahoo.com or maps.google.com.  That is what I would use.

I might also use an Excel spreadsheet to create a mileage log, which would include where they drove from (with an address) and where they drove to (also with an address) and why.

You can print out a mileage form blank to give your employees, which will let them know you're paying attention.  And then you can input the actual numbers and see if they are realistic, and whether they actually add up.  And if they claim 400 miles for going from, I dunno... uh... Glendale, CA to Burbank, CA, you can say "Hey, BS!"

However, having created that mileage form blank, I might also go a bit easy on your employees.  Don't be a jerk about it.  If they weasel two miles out of you, well, that's 90 cents.  Big whoop.  No, they shouldn't try to get an extra 50 miles out of you, but... try not to be too harsh about it.