My 05 supercrew lariat had decent enough power for me to do most things. I just added a supercharger because I wanted to have more power than the rest of the pack.

 

Because you can. If you use your vehicle to get to and from your job and you are *NOT* paid mileage through your company then you can claim it. My company pays me for the mileage with a rate that is computed by the IRS, I think it might be something like $0.37/mile or something like that, so I am not eligible. But that mileage number is computed by the IRS to let companies pay you for it, and if they don't, then basically the IRS will pay you in the form of a tax cut. If you use TurboTax it goes through all of that in detail.

 

^you must be talking about driving from job site to job site, where your company does not provide you a car, so you have to use your own car?

I have never heard of writing off a car that you commute in to the same office day after day.

 

you can deduct mileage at the standard rate for driving between jobs or doing business driving after you have gotten to the office...you cannot claim mileage to get from home to get to the job....

if you are self employed you have various options...I've found that if you find yourself getting a new vehicle fairly often leasing is the way to go as it is very easy to calculate and you get a higher $ amount of real effect per year....basically you take the amount of the monthly payment, multiply that by your % of business miles and deduct that...there is an inclusion rate that you have to add in after the first year but that is minimal, and as noted easy to do...when you depreciate a vehicle its a lot more complex and does not give as high of an effective return on your investment as calculated on your taxes, but it is the way you go when you are buying a vehicle...

the 6,000lb+ GVWR effect is that it changes the cap on the amount of value you are able to depreciate against....I've noticed that every Ford truck (all F-150's)I've owned has had a GVWR rating above the IRS requirements (one time by 50lbs) which is nice as it allows me to depreciate against a higher base value which of course leads to a higher deduction...I remember getting into a rather long argument with an ex-boss who thought otherwise on the GVWR cap...sheesh...went back and forth for over 15 minutes about this, about that, and how of course he and his accountant knew more than me (who has an economics degree from the University of California)...of course his accountant was wrong and learned a lesson from me...lol....I just bought my first truck in years (been leasing for a long time) and noticed whilst speed reading the new forms that there is apparently a secondary cap on the base value even when the GVWR requirement is satisfied for a work truck...I guess you can no longer go and buy a fully tricked out F-150 with the proper GVWR and depreciate against all of that...being fair it makes sense...of what real use is a freaking Harley Davidson model on a job site???? like any sane person would want to take such a tricked out ride onto a job site to get leaned upon, rubbed against, etc...

 

I'm sorry fellas, I forgot to add that. You are both correct, you can only deduct for the mileage if you are driving to and from different jobsites, not home. For instance, as I had stated, my company pays the standard rate for mileage set by the IRS in the form of a before tax reimbursment. It is computed by a radius system; there is a different amount for each ten mile radius from my shop. The company calculates the milage from the shop to the jobsite, and back, or in some cases if I'm on multiple sites in a day, from each job. Because of this, I cannot claim it as I am already being compensated. However, some companies do not do this, so you can figure it out on your taxes, and usually recieve a cut for it. This is not writing off your vehicle, this is "wear and tear" I guess you would call it, and only for job/business related, not home commuting. I am also in the National Gaurd, they do not automatically pay me to travel to and from armories, *however*, they will reimburse me if I submit the proper form for mileage. And yes, that is from home of record to armory and back, and being that it is a federal/government position, I would hope they know what they are doing and that it is the proper way to go about it as far as the IRS is concerned, as that is pre-tax mileage reimbursment as well. Hope that helps to clear anything up