Vehicle Repair Question

[daycare]

I have to replace my entire engine in my car and the cost will be about $5700.

I use my vehicle to transport one child to and from school, how much of this can I write off. OR can I even write any of it off?

[Thriftylady]

I have to replace my entire engine in my car and the cost will be about $5700.

I use my vehicle to transport one child to and from school, how much of this can I write off. OR can I even write any of it off?

Well the first question is how have you been tracking your vehicle expenses? There are do ways to do it, actual expenses which there is a formula for how much you can claim for daycare, Tom's books address it.

If you do it the way I do, mileage you couldn't deduct any of it I don't think.

[mommyneedsadayoff]

My question would be why are you paying almost $6k to fix a car?! I don't know your situation, but at that price, I would consider buying a different car. You can get a really nice car for $5k and if it is primarily used for business, you may be able to write off the price. Not sure on that, but I know that spending $6k on a new engine is not the best. I am assuming the car is older, but again, not knwoing your specifics, I am only giving my opinion on the large amount of money to fix the car.

[LysesKids]

I have to replace my entire engine in my car and the cost will be about $5700.

I use my vehicle to transport one child to and from school, how much of this can I write off. OR can I even write any of it off?

When my engine blew in my vehicle it would have cost $6000 plus the tow off the hwy... I got a trade of 1000 for it when I bought another vehicle (it was 10 years old). Better for me in the long run because the truck had been nickel & timing me for a few years before it gave out. I keep track of services & repairs as well as mileage so I can take some of it off on taxes

[TomCopeland]

car

I have to replace my entire engine in my car and the cost will be about $5700.

I use my vehicle to transport one child to and from school, how much of this can I write off. OR can I even write any of it off?

You can either use the standard mileage method or the actual cost method to claim expenses for your car.

If you use the standard mileage method you would multiply your business miles by $.575 (2015 rate), add parking expenses and a portion of your car loan interest, and that's it. No direct deduction for your $5,700.

If you use the actual car expenses method you would add up your business miles and divide them by the total number of miles driven. For example, if you drove 2,000 business miles and 10,000 total miles, your business portion is 20%. Then you would take 20% of all actual expenses for the car: gas, oil, repairs, car insurance, depreciation on the car, etc. So, you would get 20% of the $5,700.