Can you file for reimbursement if company pays for your gas and pays your car payment?

Question

My buddy gets what is called a truck allowance for his work truck. It is not taxed. The loan is in his name. He also has a gas card to fill up daily for work use. Can he claim anything or file for any type of reimbursement such as mileage or what not? Please point me to an official source if you know of one. Thanks

Answer 1

As far as I can remember, if he/she did not pay the expenses themself, they cannot deduct them on their taxes. Even though they received an allowance, as it is untaxable, it shouldn't be counted as income so it would not be involved with your federal form. As far as the fuel is concerned, if he does not pay the gas card bill, the company is entitled to deduct the expenses, not your friend. When it comes to un-reimbursed expenses, vehicles can be written off in two ways. Either actual expenses which include fuel, repairs, etc. or they can write off the mileage amount. Since the company is most likely writing off the fuel, there is no vehicle expense deduction

Go to www.irs.gov and look up un-reimbursed employee expenses under Publication 17. Publication 17 has a large amount of basic information.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Often an allowance like that will be shown on the W-2 and be taxable - in that case, the allowable expenses can be deducted. Or if he can prove that his actual expenses were higher than the allowance, then he could deduct the extra. But if his allowance covers his expenses, then no, he has nothing to deduct since expenses that are reimbursed are not deductible.