Tax question: Land Maintenace

[RU482]

I recently sold a car to a guy who owned some land 70 miles away from where he lives. He said he bought the land because it is good hunting ground (southern Indiana). But the interesting thing he told me was that he writes off the mileage to and from his land when he goes hunting, claiming that he is inspecting and maintaining his remote land.

Quite Intriguing to me, as I live about 650 miles away from where my parents live. We make about 4-5 trips back there each year, which would equal ~ 5200-6500 miles total round trip...at just $.325/mile (not sure what the actual rate it), that comes to $2112.50 I can write off of my taxes (Which would rock)

ANyone know the feasability of this? I can easily get some ground from my dad, so it would be great if it works

 

[HappyPuppy]

Go for it. Ten years from now the IRS will send you a nice little letter billing you for the principle and interest on the money you owe them.

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Go for it. Ten years from now the IRS will send you a nice little letter billing you for the principle and interest on the money you owe them.

I should know better, but I was actually looking for some info from someone with experience with this type of thing

 

[Ylen13]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Go for it. Ten years from now the IRS will send you a nice little letter billing you for the principle and interest on the money you owe them.

sorry its eather 3 or 5 years.I believe its 5 years.After 5 years the cant' do anything.

 

[Meggie]

The mileage can be deductible if the travel was somehow business related. Then the taxpayer can write off the travel as a business expense either with the exact cost of the travel or by mileage. In your case, you're leaning towards tax evasion.

 

[EagleKeeper]

If the land can be proven to be used as an business investment, then what is being done is legal. The burgen of proof is on the taxpayer.

 

[BooneRebel]

I think that maintaining your own land and visiting your parents are going to be viewed differently by your friendly IRS agent.

 

[dullard]

#1) You need to have a business, since this is a business tax write off. Without a business, you won't have any spot on your income tax form to claim it.
#2) If you do own a business and visit your parents you can claim 36.5 cents per mile traveled. BUT, you have to prove it was a business trip. Multiply that 36.5 cents by the fraction of the time you spent doing business related tasks. Suppose you spent 5 minutes looking at your property, and 23 hours 55 minutes visiting your parents. In that case, you spent 0.35% of your time doing business. So multiply 36.5 cents by 0.35% and you get to deduct 0.127 cents per mile. Multiply that by 6000 miles and you get to deduct a whopping $7.60.

I have a feeling that if the IRS found out that the guy was doing personal things (like hunting), they wouldn't like him claiming a 100% deduction on his mileage. If it is honestly a business property, he can claim a good fraction since while hunting he can be inspecting it. But I doubt he can legally claim the full 36.5 cents per mile.