Deducting Public Transportation

[pdxuser]

(Portland, Oregon - TriMet)

I'm self-employed. How do I deduct the public transportation I use in the course of business? I buy fare tickets in books of ten. Can I just claim those ticket books as business expenses, even though I wouldn't be able to prove each ticket was used for business? Do I have to keep records of every trip I make? Do I have to keep the transfers (little coded paper slips I get when I pay the fare)? A problem with those transfers is that the dates are all in code.

Also, if there are any other general tax advantages for using public transportation, whether for business or otherwise, please let me know! I've tried Googling this stuff, but all the results I get are about the tax advantages of businesses encouraging employees to commute using public transportation.

Thanks!

[freespeech]

You would be better served going to [url]www.irs.gov[/url] to find tax solutions than a google search.

You need to keep accurate records of the business use as personal use is not deductible.

[pdxuser]

All IRS.gov tells me is that it's indeed deductible. What I'm wondering is, what is an adequate record? Do I need to take each of my fare transfers, scribble on the back something like, "8/23 trip to print shop to pick up brochures," and hold on to these for years and years?

[Snipes5]

Keep a written log of business trips, just as you would if you were claiming mileage...

So have a logbook of some kind, write the date and "went to pick up yada yada", and the time. You need not keep the transfers.

You will want to log, Aug 1, purchased book of 10 fares... then list each fare and the date and where you went...

To find this on the IRS site, search for "what type of records do I need to keep?"

Snipes