Tracking miles for your real estate business

[Alexander Ransom]

Any good ideas or apps for tracking your miles driven for your business? Also, what are you able to write off as far as where and when you drive? For example, do I only write off the miles I drive to the property or can I calculate round trip? Any advice would be appreciated!

[Michael Plaks]

@Alexander Ransom

You can google "best mileage tracking apps" - and find reviews of many. Like with all apps, it's a matter of personal taste. MileIQ, TripLog and MileTracker are just three examples.

Stay away from free apps not backed up by major companies. They can drop support anytime, and then you're stuck. You need an app that can download log reports and keep them for 3 years.

As to what miles you can count - I'm sure someone will post very detailed IRS rules soon. It can get confusing, so here's my informal shortcut rule: Ask yourself whether you would make the trip if NOT for your business. If the answer is no, then you probably have a deductible trip. Round-trip.

But then, of course, there are pages of small print if you care.