Publication 17
Your Federal Income Tax

For Individuals

For use in preparing 2002 Returns

Gift Expenses

If you give gifts in the course of your trade or business, you can deduct all or part of the cost. This section explains the limits and rules for deducting the costs of gifts.

$25 limit.   You can deduct no more than $25 for business gifts you give directly or indirectly to any one person during your tax year. A gift to a company that is intended for the eventual personal use or benefit of a particular person or a limited class of people will be considered an indirect gift to that particular person or to the individuals within that class of people who receive the gift.

If you give a gift to a member of a customer's family, the gift is generally considered to be an indirect gift to the customer. This rule does not apply if you have a bona fide, independent business connection with that family member and the gift is not intended for the customer's eventual use.

If you and your spouse both give gifts, both of you are treated as one taxpayer. It does not matter whether you have separate businesses, are separately employed, or whether each of you has an independent connection with the recipient. If a partnership gives gifts, the partnership and the partners are treated as one taxpayer.

Incidental costs.   Incidental costs, such as engraving on jewelry, or packaging, insuring, and mailing, are generally not included in determining the cost of a gift for purposes of the $25 limit.

A cost is incidental only if it does not add substantial value to the gift. For example, the cost of gift wrapping is an incidental cost. However, the purchase of an ornamental basket for packaging fruit is not an incidental cost if the value of the basket is substantial compared to the value of the fruit.

Exceptions.   The following items are not considered gifts for purposes of the $25 limit.

1. An item that costs $4 or less and:
   1. Has your name clearly and permanently imprinted on the gift, and
   2. Is one of a number of identical items you widely distribute. Examples include pens, desk sets, and plastic bags and cases.
2. Signs, display racks, or other promotional material to be used on the business premises of the recipient.

Gift or entertainment.   Any item that might be considered either a gift or entertainment generally will be considered entertainment. However, if you give a customer packaged food or beverages that you intend the customer to use at a later date, treat it as a gift.

If you give a customer tickets to a theater performance or sporting event and you do not go with the customer to the performance or event, you have a choice. You can treat the cost of the tickets as either a gift expense or an entertainment expense, whichever is to your advantage.

You can change your treatment of the tickets at a later date by filing an amended return. Generally, an amended return must be filed within 3 years from the date the original return was filed or within 2 years from the time the tax was paid, whichever is later.

If you go with the customer to the event, you must treat the cost of the tickets as an entertainment expense. You cannot choose, in this case, to treat the cost of the tickets as a gift expense.

Transportation Expenses

This section discusses expenses you can deduct for business transportation when you are not traveling away from home as defined earlier. These expenses include the cost of transportation by air, rail, bus, taxi, etc., and the cost of driving and maintaining your car.

Transportation expenses include the ordinary and necessary costs of all of the following.

• Getting from one workplace to another in the course of your business or profession when you are traveling within your tax home. (Tax home is defined earlier under Travel Expenses.)
• Visiting clients or customers.
• Going to a business meeting away from your regular workplace.
• Getting from your home to a temporary workplace when you have one or more regular places of work. These temporary workplaces can be either within the area of your tax home or outside that area.

Transportation expenses do not include expenses you have while traveling away from home overnight. Those expenses are travel expenses, which are discussed earlier. However, if you use your car while traveling away from home overnight, use the rules in this section to figure your car expense deduction. See Car Expenses, later.

Illustration of transportation expenses.   Figure 28-B illustrates the rules for when you can deduct transportation expenses when you have a regular or main job away from your home. You may want to refer to it when deciding whether you can deduct your transportation expenses.

Figure 28-B. Local Transportation

Temporary work location.   If you have one or more regular work locations away from your home and you commute to a temporary work location in the same trade or business, you can deduct the expenses of the daily round-trip transportation between your home and the temporary location, regardless of distance.

If your employment at a work location is realistically expected to last (and does in fact last) for one year or less, the employment is temporary unless there are facts and circumstances that would indicate otherwise.

If your employment at a work location is realistically expected to last for more than 1 year or if there is no realistic expectation that the employment will last for 1 year or less, the employment is not temporary, regardless of whether it actually lasts for more than 1 year.

If employment at a work location initially is realistically expected to last for 1 year or less, but at some later date the employment is realistically expected to last more than 1 year, that employment will be treated as temporary (unless there are facts and circumstances that would indicate otherwise) until your expectation changes. It will not be treated as temporary after the date you determine it will last more than 1 year.

If the temporary work location is beyond the general area of your regular place of work and you stay overnight, you are traveling away from home. You may have deductible travel expenses as discussed earlier in this chapter.

No regular place of work.   If you have no regular place of work but ordinarily work in the metropolitan area where you live, you can deduct daily transportation costs between home and a temporary work site outside that metropolitan area.

Generally, a metropolitan area includes the area within the city limits and the suburbs that are considered part of that metropolitan area.

You cannot deduct daily transportation costs between your home and temporary work sites within your metropolitan area. These are nondeductible commuting expenses.

Two places of work.   If you work at two places in one day, whether or not for the same employer, you can deduct the expense of getting from one workplace to the other. However, if for some personal reason you do not go directly from one location to the other, you cannot deduct more than the amount it would have cost you to go directly from the first location to the second.

Transportation expenses you have in going between home and a part-time job on a day off from your main job are commuting expenses. You cannot deduct them.

Armed Forces reservists.   A meeting of an Armed Forces reserve unit is a second place of business if the meeting is held on a day on which you work at your regular job. You can deduct the expense of getting from one workplace to the other as just discussed under Two places of work.

You usually cannot deduct the expense if the reserve meeting is held on a day on which you do not work at your regular job. In this case, your transportation generally is considered a nondeductible commuting expense. However, you can deduct your transportation expenses if the location of the meeting is temporary and you have one or more regular places of work.

If you ordinarily work in a particular metropolitan area but not at any specific location and the reserve meeting is held at a temporary location outside that metropolitan area, you can deduct your transportation expenses.

If you travel away from home overnight to attend a guard or reserve meeting, you can deduct your travel expenses. These expenses are discussed earlier under Travel Expenses.

Commuting expenses.   You cannot deduct the costs of taking a bus, trolley, subway, or taxi, or of driving a car between your home and your main or regular place of work. These costs are personal commuting expenses. You cannot deduct commuting expenses no matter how far your home is from your regular place of work. You cannot deduct commuting expenses even if you work during the commuting trip.

Example.   You had a telephone installed in your car. You sometimes use that telephone to make business calls while commuting to and from work. Sometimes business associates ride with you to and from work, and you have a business discussion in the car. These activities do not change the trip from personal to business. You cannot deduct your commuting expenses.

Parking fees.   Fees you pay to park your car at your place of business are nondeductible commuting expenses. You can, however, deduct business-related parking fees when visiting a customer or client.

Advertising display on car.   Putting display material that advertises your business on your car does not change the use of your car from personal use to business use. If you use this car for commuting or other personal uses, you still cannot deduct your expenses for those uses.

Car pools.   You cannot deduct the cost of using your car in a nonprofit car pool. Do not include payments you receive from the passengers in your income. These payments are considered reimbursements of your expenses. However, if you operate a car pool for a profit, you must include payments from passengers in your income. You can then deduct your car expenses (using the rules in this chapter).

Hauling tools or instruments.   Hauling tools or instruments in your car while commuting to and from work does not make your car expenses deductible. However, you can deduct any additional costs you have for hauling tools or instruments (such as for renting a trailer you tow with your car).

Union members' trips from a union hall.   If you get your work assignments at a union hall and then go to your place of work, the costs of getting from the union hall to your place of work are nondeductible commuting expenses. Although you need the union to get your work assignments, you are employed where you work, not where the union hall is located.

Office in the home.   If you have an office in your home that qualifies as a principal place of business, you can deduct your daily transportation costs between your home and another work location in the same trade or business. (See chapter 30 for information on determining if your home office qualifies as a principal place of business.)

Examples of deductible transportation expenses.   The following examples show when you can deduct transportation expenses based on the location of your work and your home.

Example 1.   You regularly work in an office in the city where you live. Your employer sends you to a one-week training session at a different office in the same city. You travel directly from your home to the training location and return each day. You can deduct the cost of your daily round-trip transportation between your home and the training location.

Example 2.   Your principal place of business is in your home. You can deduct the cost of round-trip transportation between your qualifying home office and your client's or customer's place of business.

Example 3.   You have no regular office, and you do not have an office in your home. In this case, the location of your first business contact is considered your office. Transportation expenses between your home and this first contact are nondeductible commuting expenses. Transportation expenses between your last business contact and your home are also nondeductible commuting expenses. Although you cannot deduct the costs of these first and last trips, you can deduct the costs of going from one client or customer to another.

Car Expenses

If you use your car for business purposes, you may be able to deduct car expenses. You generally can use one of the two following methods to figure your deductible expenses.

• Actual car expenses.
• Standard mileage rate.

If you use actual car expenses to figure your deduction for a car you lease, there are rules that affect the amount of your lease payments that you can deduct. See Leasing a car under Actual Car Expenses, later.

In this chapter, car includes a van, pickup, or panel truck.

You may be entitled to a tax credit for an electric vehicle (see chapter 38) or a deduction from gross income for a part of the cost of a clean-fuel vehicle that you place in service during the year. The vehicle must meet certain requirements, and you do not have to use it in your business to qualify for the credit or the deduction. For more information, see chapter 12 of Publication 535.

Rural mail carriers.   If you are a rural mail carrier, you may be able to treat the amount of qualified reimbursement you received as the amount of your allowable expense. Because the qualified reimbursement is treated as paid under an accountable plan, your employer should not include the amount of reimbursement in your income. And, since the reimbursement equals the expense, you have no deduction to report on your tax return.

A qualified reimbursement is the amount of reimbursement you receive that meets both of the following conditions.

1. It is given as an equipment maintenance allowance (EMA) to employees of the U.S. Postal Service.
2. It is at the rate contained in the 1991 collective bargaining agreement. Any later agreement cannot increase the qualified reimbursement amount by more than the rate of inflation.

See your employer for information on your reimbursement.

If you are a rural mail carrier and received a qualified reimbursement, you cannot use the standard mileage rate.

Standard Mileage Rate

You may be able to use the standard mileage rate to figure the deductible costs of operating your car for business purposes. For 2002, the standard mileage rate is 36½ cents a mile for all business miles.

If you use the standard mileage rate for a year, you cannot deduct your actual car expenses for that year.

You generally can use the standard mileage rate regardless of whether you are reimbursed and whether any reimbursement is more or less than the amount figured using the standard mileage rate. See Reimbursements under How To Report, later.

Choosing the standard mileage rate.   If you want to use the standard mileage rate for a car you own, you must choose to use it in the first year the car is available for use in your business. Then in later years, you can choose to use either the standard mileage rate or actual expenses.

If you want to use the standard mileage rate for a car you lease, you must use it for the entire lease period. For leases that began on or before December 31, 1997, the standard mileage rate must be used for the entire portion of the lease period (including renewals) that is after 1997.

If you choose to use the standard mileage rate, you are considered to have chosen not to use the depreciation methods under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS). This is because the standard mileage rate includes an allowance for depreciation that is not expressed in terms of years. If you change to the actual expenses method in a later year, but before your car is fully depreciated, you have to estimate the remaining useful life of the car and use straight line depreciation. For more information about depreciation included in the standard mileage rate, see the exception in Methods of depreciation under Depreciation Deduction in chapter 4 of Publication 463.

Standard mileage rate not allowed.   You cannot use the standard mileage rate if you:

1. Use the car for hire (such as a taxi),
2. Use two or more cars at the same time (as in fleet operations),
3. Claimed a depreciation deduction for the car using any method other than straight line depreciation,
4. Claimed a section 179 deduction on the car,
5. Claimed the special depreciation allowance on the car,
6. Claimed actual car expenses after 1997 for a car you leased, or
7. Are a rural mail carrier who received a qualified reimbursement. (See Rural mail carriers, earlier.)

Two or more cars.   If you own two or more cars that are used for business at the same time, you cannot use the standard mileage rate for the business use of any car. However, you may be able to deduct your actual expenses for operating each of the cars in your business. See Actual Car Expenses in chapter 4 of Publication 463 for information on how to figure your deduction.

You are not using two or more cars for business at the same time if you alternate using (use at different times) the cars for business.

Example 1.   Marcia, a salesperson, owns a car and a van that she alternates using for calling on her customers. She can use the standard mileage rate for the business mileage of the car and the van.

Example 2.   Maureen owns a car and a van that are both used in her housecleaning business. Her employees use the van and she uses the car to travel to the various customers. Maureen cannot use the standard mileage rate for the car or the van. This is because both vehicles are used in Maureen's business at the same time. She must use actual expenses for both vehicles.

Parking fees and tolls.   In addition to using the standard mileage rate, you can deduct any business-related parking fees and tolls. (Parking fees that you pay to park your car at your place of work are nondeductible commuting expenses.)

Actual Car Expenses

If you do not use the standard mileage rate, you may be able to deduct your actual car expenses.

If you qualify to use both methods, you may want to figure your deduction both ways to see which gives you a larger deduction.

Actual car expenses include:

Business and personal use.   If you use your car for both business and personal purposes, you must divide your expenses between business and personal use. You can divide your expense based on the miles driven for each purpose.

Example.   You are a contractor and drive your car 20,000 miles during the year: 12,000 miles for business use and 8,000 miles for personal use. You can claim only 60% (12,000 ÷ 20,000) of the cost of operating your car as a business expense.

Interest on car loans.   If you are an employee, you cannot deduct any interest paid on a car loan. This interest is treated as personal interest and is not deductible. However, if you are self-employed and use your car in that business, see chapter 5 of Publication 535.

If you use a home equity loan to purchase your car, you may be able to deduct the interest. See chapter 25 for more information.

Taxes paid on your car.   If you are an employee, you can deduct personal property taxes paid on your car if you itemize deductions. Enter the amount paid on line 7 of Schedule A (Form 1040). (See chapter 24 for more information on taxes.) If you are not an employee, see your form instructions for information on how to deduct personal property taxes paid on your car.

You cannot deduct sales taxes, even if you use your car 100% for business. Sales taxes are part of your car's basis and are recovered through depreciation, discussed later.

Fines and collateral.   You cannot deduct fines and collateral you pay for traffic violations.

Depreciation and section 179 deductions.   Generally, the cost of a car, plus sales tax and improvements, is a capital expense. Because the benefits last longer than one year, you generally cannot deduct a capital expense. However, you can recover this cost through the section 179 deduction (the deduction allowed by section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code), the special depreciation allowance, and depreciation deductions. By using depreciation, you recover the cost over more than one year by deducting part of it each year. The section 179 deduction, the special depreciation allowance, and the depreciation deduction are discussed in more detail in chapter 4 of Publication 463.

Generally, there are limits on these deductions. Special rules apply if you use your car 50% or less in your work or business.

Leasing a car.   If you lease a car that you use in your business, you can use the standard mileage rate or actual expenses to figure your deductible car expense.

Deductible payments.   If you choose to use actual expenses, you can deduct the part of each lease payment that is for the use of the car in your business. You cannot deduct any part of a lease payment that is for personal use of the car, such as commuting.

You must spread any advance payments over the entire lease period. You cannot deduct any payments you make to buy a car, even if the payments are called lease payments.

If you lease a car for 30 days or more, you may have to reduce your lease payment deduction by an inclusion amount. For information on reporting lease inclusion amounts, see Leasing a Car in chapter 4 of Publication 463.

Sale, Trade-in, or Other Disposition

If you sell, trade in, or otherwise dispose of your car, you may have a taxable gain or a deductible loss. This is true whether you used the standard mileage rate or actual car expenses to deduct the business use of your car. Publication 544 has information on sales of property used in a trade or business, and details on how to report the disposition.

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