Okay, I am waiting for Tom's workbook to come before I finalize any taxes. But I am trying to get them started. I use Turbo Tax and have two issues that I can see right now. I can't find a place to put my meal deduction (I am using standard deduction), and my mileage deduction. Do I just itemize it with the rest of my expenses on the Sch. C?

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Here's what I wrote previously about Turbo Tax and food expenses:

TurboTax tells you to enter your food expenses under “Meals and Entertainment Expenses.” You are given two choices: Meals and Entertainment: 50% Limit or 100% Limit.

Always choose 100% Limit for food served to daycare children.

Here’s the explanation TurboTax gives about entering food expenses using the standard meal allowance rate, “If you are reimbursed for meals and snacks, you can deduct only the portion of the standard allowance that exceeds the reimbursement. Enter the total amount on the next screen.”

This explanation is extremely misleading and confusing.

What this explanation is saying is if you received $4,000 from the Food Program and claim $5,000 in food expenses using the standard meal allowance, you should report zero income and $1,000 as a food expense. This is called “netting” your food expenses. But TurboTax also says to put the “total amount” on the next screen. The total amount of what? The $5,000 or the $1,000?

If you received an IRS Form 1099 from your Food Program sponsor, TurboTax will tell you to put the entire amount down as income. If you follow the above advice and only enter $1,000 as your food expense, you are cheating yourself out of $4,000 of business deductions.

Because TurboTax is not automatically “netting” your food expenses, report your total business food expenses ($5,000 in our example). In the income section of TurboTax you should always report the amount you received from the Food Program as income ($4,000 in our example). Exception: reimbursements received for your own children are not income.

In an IRS audit, the auditor will always want to know how much you were reimbursed by the Food Program and your total food deduction. If you “net” this, you may not be keeping the proper records to explain yourself later.

Mileage
Turbo Tax does ask if you use a car for your business and it does ask to enter your business miles. Keep looking. I can't recall now where this appears.

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I did see business vehicle. The issue is turbo tax wants me to enter all the info for that paticular vehicle. The issue is we have three. The van (which needs replaced now the mechanic told me the engine is a lost cause) is the one I have used if I transported kids. But when it comes to going to the grocery store or something, it depends. If my daughter is parked behind me, I take her car. If the pickup is in the way I take it. Does that matter?

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It doesn't matter. Enter all vehicles that you used for your business. You or your husband must own them. If your daughter owns her vehicle you can't deduct expenses associated with her vehicle.

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Okay thanks. Technically I own DD's vehicle. She is only 17, and even when she turns 18 next summer we will probably just leave it that way. Otherwise she will have to pay for new plates, she and I are both to cheap for that lol.

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