Hi. My husband and I received a notice from the IRS questioning my husband's work mileage. Although he kept somewhat of a mileage book, it was not as thorough as it should have been. I want to know if anyone has experienced a tax audit and, if so, what was the experience like? Will the IRS accept a log book without receipts? What happens if we cannot account for ALL the amounts claimed on the return? What substantiating information will the IRS auditor try to get from my husband's company? I ask because the whole place is filled with gossip-mongers and he doesn't want anyone to be talking about his personal business (which will happen if the IRS questions anyone in the office). Thanks for any information!

You have to show IRS what ever records you have.
If you have records for a weeks and for next couple of weeks you made the same trips, then you can show that.
Commuting miles that is miles from home to office and then last trip back to home are not deductible.

Unless I am mistaken, if he is reimbursed for travel miles through work he cannot also claim them on his taxes. I could be wrong and I'm sure an expert will point that out.

If this is true *and I am not a tax expert* they may have notices both the company and him claiming the mileage. They will want to reconcile the mileage claimed through the company vs the mileage claimed on his return.

Thanks for your response! No, he definitely did not do both. He claimed on his taxes because his company will only pay a small fraction of mileage the IRS does.

In that case he can claim difference between standard mileage rate and what was paid by the company. It is itemized deduction. You can deduct the amount that is more than 2% of your adjusted gross income (Form 1040, line 38). Read: Your U.S. Tax Return: Itemized Deductions

The best milleage records are kept on daytimers or with PDAs. If the mileage is not too large, the IRS normally takes such records at face value.

If your husband can cross-reference trips with credit card entries (say, for gasoline or hotel expenses), so much the better to validate the trip.

The actual mileage entries can be further validated by using MapQuest printouts for the various trips. Such detailed instructions from MapQuest normally lists the one-way mileage.

Thank you to both for taking the time to answer! Good thing he has a detailed log book, BUT he often traveled over 100 miles/day (25,000 for the year)! He paid cash for everything and unknowingly submitted receipts to the company. I guess we'll soon find out what the outcome will be... thanks, again!

One hundred miles per day is NOT that unusual for the modern sales representative.

Heck, the Atlanta metropolitan area is spread over 14 counties, and I have local clients who easily average over 100 miles per day just to visit their customers.

If your husband can soldily substantiate a significant percentage of his miles with affadavits from customers, the IRS auditor will see the pattern and probably take the rest of his mileage log at face value.