Conference 7.286::digital

    Specifically there are I.R.S. regulations that state 
    (synopsis here) that you are not allow to deduct (or in this case
    expense) the milage from your home to your place of work. But, any
    other business related milage is allowable.
    
    I have discussed this with my UM many times.  I expense the cost
    of driving to a customer site (even if I'm a resident) because my
    "desk" is located in my facility and I'm performing a task for
    Digital's benefit by going there.  From what I've read on this subject
    I am correct in my hypothesis.
    
    Was this your question, or did i miss it by the width of the Grand
    Canyon??  8^)
    
    Jp

    Yes your group administrator should have a mileage chart for
    miles between various sites and your site.  Usually the facility
    administration can maintains it.  
    
    As for what to claim, it is easy, you can only claim any mileage
    excess from the difference in miles from you miles accumalated
    from starting point (just before you left for the destination) to 
    the destination and the miles you accumulate when you go to your 
    office site.  If the starting point is your office then the 
    distance between your office and the destination is the number you 
    are looking for if you start from your home then the distance from 
    your home to the destination point is the number you are looking for.
    
    In your example this will end up negative therefore you cannot get 
    any mileage reimbursement (consistent with the fact that you actually
    had less mileage then usually accumulated to your office).  
    
    P.S. I hope I got it right :-).

    RE: Note 801.2 by MECAD::GONDA
    >In your example this will end up negative therefore you cannot get
    >any mileage reimbursement (consistent with the fact that you actually
    >had less mileage then usually accumulated to your office).
    
    I think that means you have to reimburse the company :-)
    
    	Mike

        The official policy on mileage reimbursement, in the U.S. at
        least, is part of the corporate personnel policy on business
        expense reimbursement.  You can read it on-line in the ORANGEBOOK
        infobase that's part of the corporate VTX library.  Since your
        cost center manager (or his or her delegate) has to sign your
        Special Mileage Reimbursement form (or whatever), I'd suggest that
        you address any questions about interpretation of the policy to
        him or her.  (And yes, the real rules in the U.S. are what the
        Internal Revenue Service allows.) 
        
        For your convenience, here's what the policy (5.11) says:

Mileage Allowance

Employees are encouraged to use regularly scheduled Company
aircraft/shuttle vehicles whenever possible. Where personal vehicles
must be used, the amount of reimbursement is based on actual
business miles driven.

It is Digital's intention that employees will pay for their own
mileage between their place of residence and their work place.  Any
required business mileage incurred during the workday in excess of
that normal commute will be compensated in accordance with our
Business Mileage Policy.

This policy also applies to those employees who are using vanpools
or carpools to commute to work.  Mileage reimbursement is provided
to these employees only when they drive their personal vehicle and
the mileage incurred in a workday exceeds that of the normal
commuting mileage as defined above.

Reimbursement for U.S. locations is as follows:

  22.5 cents per mile.

  This provision does not apply to field personnel who are
  governed by the U.S. Auto Plan Policies or to Digital employees
  outside the U.S. where local mile/km. policies are defined.
[end of extract]
        
        It's pretty clear.  You are reimbursed for mileage in excess
        of your normal commute, which includes mileage going from place
        to place during the day.
        
        Tom

    lets try it this way::


    HOME			OFFICE
    <-----------10 MI.------------->           NO MONEY

    HOME 	CALL		OFFICE
    <-----5 MI. -X------5 MI. --->	IF YOU STOP AT THE CALL FIRST NO
    					MONEY, IF YOU GO TO THE OFFICE
    					FIRST THEN BACK TO THE CALL YOU GET
    					PAID FOR 5 MILES. 
    					
    HOME 	OFFICE		CALL
    <----10 MI.---X-------5 MI.--->	YOU GET PAID FOR 5 MILES EVEN IF
    					YOU DON'T STOP AT THE OFFICE. 
    					
    CALL 	HOME 		OFFICE
    <----5 MI.---X-------10 MI.---->  	IF YOU GO TO THE CALL FROM HOME 
    					NO MONEY. IF YOU GO TO THE OFFICE 
    					THEN TO THE CALL YOU GET PAID FOR
    					15 MILES. IF YOU GO BACK TO THE
    					OFFICE YOU GET ANOTHER 15 MI. IF 
    					YOU GO HOME FROM THE CALL YOU ONLY
    					GET PAID ONE WAY. IF YOU GO TO
    ANOTHER CALL YOU GET THE MILEAGE BETWEEN CALLS. IF YOU GO HOME FROM YOUR
    LAST CALL YOU ONLY GET PAID THE DIFFERENCE IN MILES BETWEEN YOUR NORMAL
    COMMUTE AND THE CALL IF THE CALL IS FARTHER AWAY FROM HOME THAN THE
    OFFICE. ****** please note ****** rules are different for people in
    remote sites who must work from the home. I hope that helps a little.

    Why not just claim ex-office regardless. On average the result will
    be about the same - and much easier to calculate.
    m
    

    OK, it's my turn to "keep it Simple Simon".
    
    Step 1: Call the round-trip distance from your home to the office HOH,
    for "Home-Office-Home". You only have to measure this once. 
    
    Step 2: Use your car's odometer to get your TOTAL miles for the day,
    from the time you start in the morning until you arrive back home at
    night. Let's assume no personal side trips. 
    
    Step 3: The number of miles you can charge to DEC is: 
    
    		REIMBURSABLE_MILES = TOTAL - HOH
    

    For people who only drive to the office and back, it will be zero. If
    it's negative, consider yourself lucky and don't tell anybody: you
    don't owe DEC anything. 

    I don't know, maybe I view things too simplistically.  I think that
    you should ask for whatever additional miles you drive for an off-site
    call.  That's what seems intuitevely fair to me.  I guess what I'm
    trying to say is to march to the "intent" of the law and not the
    "letter" of the law.  
    
    Let's face it, if you want to claim a few extra miles by saying
    that you went to point 'A' before 'B' and then to 'C' etc.. then
    you'll get away with it.  If you ask yourself the question "How
    many additional commuting miles did I have to drive because of this
    meeting", then I think that you're thinking along the right lines.
    
    As for me, I'm going to grad school part time where DEC is generously
    footing the bill (some $1700 per class!).  I've also been known to make
    a few personal phone calls from time to time at DEC's expense (sound
    familiar?). To me, a few extra miles going to an off-site meeting
    doesn't seem to measure up to all that so I don't worry about claiming 
    milage.  That's my personal position in my unique situation and
    I'm not implying that any readers are abusing any of the privileges
    granted us as employees.
    
    Happy Driving

        There is one good reason to obey the letter of the law, at least
        with regard to claiming more miles than you actually travelled
        (you can claim less or none safely), and that's that Digital may
        be audited by the I.R.S.  In fact, much of the concern around the
        reimbursement of interplant travel is precisely because it's a
        business expense, and reduces Digital's taxable income. 
        
        Tom

    Ok, if I have DEC business to perform on a Saturday and I don't
    normally travel to work on Saturdays, will the total miles I travel
    on that Saturday be reimbursed.

    Mac

    	
    YES.

re .11

On what do you base that "YES?"

Certainly not on IRS policy, which is that your travel between your home and
ANY work location (whether your normal location or an alternate location) in
your "general area" is NOT business mileage, even if it is more than your
normal commute.

DEC is being very generous in paying you mileage in excess of your normal
commute; the IRS does not consider everything that DEC is willing to pay
to be business mileage, so you may be right, as far as DEC is concerned,
but it might not withstand an IRS audit.

/john

    
    RE .11 & .12
    
    I am Basing my  .11 on the fact that the Saturday service means
    that the persons home has become his/her office for that day.
    (This is NOT a normal business trip).
    
    Regards, ---George--- 

According to the IRS, if your office is your home (such as is the case with
remote field service reps), the first and last trip of the day (to the first
and from the last customer site) are personal mileage.

Again, DEC is "nice" about this, but doesn't have to be.

/john

>Again, DEC is "nice" about this, but doesn't have to be.

    I suppose he is even nicer, he does not have to work on Saturdays.
    
    - Vikas    

        Technically, DEC doesn't have to reimburse ANY mileage.  If no
        "personal car" use were reimbursed, you could claim some of the
        use of your personal car as an unreimbursed business expense.  For
        the most part, what DEC reimburses is what the IRS would allow as
        a business expense, and the rate at which DEC reimburses your
        mileage expense is typically what the IRS allows (although it
        often lags changes in the IRS rate by many months). 
        
        So, John Covert is right in questionning the "authority" for the
        assertion that DEC will reimburse an employee for all Saturday
        mileage. 
        
        The only things you can be CERTAIN will be reimbursed are those
        spelled out in the relevant policy (5.11).  It's rather vague. It
        says that Digital expects employees to pay for their usual
        commuting mileage, but ties that to the regular work schedule,
        sort of. 
        
        When in doubt, as your cost center manager, whose signature is the
        key to getting reimbursed. 

    re: .17
    
    I may well be wrong, but I thought that the new IRS rules had some
    "minimum" figure which had to be attained before this was considered
    deductable (like >=2% of income?).  Anyone know for certain?
    
    -- Russ

    On Form 1040 Schedule A, 1988, lines 20-24 concern "job expenses and
    most other miscellaneous deductions". 
    
    You get to deduct only those business expenses which exceed 2% of your
    adjusted gross income.