In the Watson household, we celebrate the end of the year for two different reasons. First – the traditional New Year’s eve type celebrations but before we get to midnight, we spend the day celebrating our son’s birthday. That’s right – your CPA and his wife did some awesome tax planning 12 years ago when our son made his appearance late in the evening on December 31st. We earned the tax credit for his birth in that year and he’d only been around for it less than 3 hours! My wife always jokes that I got congratulated more for the tax planning and timing then she did for the birth of our son.

And speaking of tax planning, the IRS has listed the mileage rules for 2015. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2015, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car, van, pickup or panel truck are:

• 57.5 cents per mile for business miles driven, up from 56 cents in 2014
• 23 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes, down half a cent from 2014
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

Taxpayers always have the option of claiming deductions based on the actual costs of using a vehicle rather than the standard mileage rates.

Let us know if you have any questions about standard mileage rates and which driving activities you should keep track of as tax year 2015 begins. It’s always easier to start the year with the right method of tracking than to go back and try to fix it!
You can also find additional information regarding this subject as well as the tax change checklist for 2015 in our monthly newsletter. If you’re not signed up yet for that newsletter, send us an email and we’ll add you! It comes out just once a month so you won’t be slammed with tax information!