Accountants have generally not done a good job communicating the legal concept of “contemporaneous log”; a term legally required under tax law to take a mileage reimbursement or deduction for business travel on a personally owned automobile.
Programs like MileIQ do a great job but I still think that a taxpayer needs to understand the underlying tax and legal theory to see why it is important.
The fact is that most business travelers do not keep a log that meets IRS requirements and therefore are not eligible for mileage deductions or tax-free reimbursement from an employer.
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