Owning a vehicle in my LLC: Tax Questions!

[Drew Whitson]

My wife and I have an LLC which holds a small portfolio of single family homes. I am considering purchasing a vehicle to be titled in the LLC. My thinking is that the deprecation + gas + insurance + maintenance is, in total, much larger of a tax shield than simply taking the standard mileage deduction, at least for the number of miles I drive.

My questions are: How do I treat personal miles driven? Also, are there a minimum number of miles I must use the car? Could I use it for exclusive purpose of the business an only put on 1,000 miles? There are easy simple iPhone apps that can make business/personal miles easy to track. I would assume personal miles create a tax liability by mile driven based on the standard rate.

What is the standard deprecation schedule for a vehicle in an LLC? I believe it is 5 years but am not sure if it is treated as a straight line schedule, meaning 20% per year. Finally, do any vehicle maintenance costs need to be capitalized? Tires, for example, have a useful life more than one year; however, this may be over-thinking it.

Even after depreciation, my rental business is creating a lot of taxable gains so I'm trying find reasonable ways to lower my taxable income and owning a vehicle is one of those strategies.

Thanks for you help fellow BP-ers!!