Car Reimbersement

[Mycar]

I have recently started employment with a nationwide computer service company after being unemployed for over a year. They only offer part time employment for the area I work in, the Jackson, TN. area. I receive calls from them and travel from my home to the parts depot. From there I travel to the location where the computer is located, to do repairs on the hardware. I have been told that I can not claim the mileage from my home to the parts depot because they consider Airborne my office, even though I'm required to have a computer in my home to get the assigned workorders that are sent to me via the internet daily. I have also been told that I will not be reimbersed for the use of my personal vehicle while I'm working for them taking service calls, unless the calls are at least 35 miles from one location to the next. I can then claim all the miles over the 1st 35 one-way. So I can travel around through out the day and put hundereds of miles on my vehicle and not be reimbursed for a mile, if all locations I travel to during the day, are within 35 mile from one place to the next. Here's an example where I was reimbersed for 4 miles and received a total of $1.56.
Example: 44 miles to parts depot(can not be claimed on expense report because that's my office), 1st call is 32 miles(can't be claimed), next call 39 miles(4 miles can be claimed), next call 33 miles(can't be claimed), 28 miles back to parts depot which is a national shipping company, Airborne(can't be claimed), and the drive back home (where my real office is) can't be claimed because I just left my imaginary office, the Airborne depot. Needless to say, this can be a costly expense for me to be employed. So my question is, aren't there laws in place to keep the giant companies from taking advantage of you, by requiring you to use your personal vehicle to make money for them, and barely reimbursing you for the wear and tear, and the skyrocketed cost of gasoline?

[Pattymd]

Unfortunately, there are no such federal laws, and only California (and just recently, I believe, Maine) require the employer to reimburse the employee for business expenses. You can claim the costs as a itemized deduction on your 1040 (Unreimbursed Business Expenses) if you meet the AGI minimum. I would recommend you seek the advice of a tax expert who can let you know what type of costs you can claim and what type of records you need to keep.