When we talk about tracking your miles, we generally talk about business drives. This could be for the mileage deduction or a mileage reimbursement. But, there are other drives that can provide some savings at tax time. Let's go over deducting non-business driving for medical or charity purposes.
In order to deduct any non-business driving, you must itemize your personal deductions on your tax return instead of taking the standard deduction. Without this, you won't get a deduction.
Deducting Non-Business Drives: Driving As A Medical Expense
If you itemize your deduction, you can deduct medical mileage as part of your medical expense deduction. You can include the amount paid for transportation primarily for medical care. This can include trips to the doctor, hospital, pharmacy or dentist – this also can include regular trips to a mentally ill dependent, if it's recommended as a part of the treatment.
There is a limitation to your medical expense deduction, though. You may deduct your medical expenses only to the extent it exceeds 10% of your annual adjusted gross income. If you're over 65, the threshold is 7.5% of AGI through 2017.
You can determine your medical mileage tax deduction two ways: using the standard medical mileage rate or the using your actual costs. The current IRS mileage rate allows you to deduct 19 cents per mile related to medical. Whichever method you decide to use, you can always include parking fees and tolls.