Dear TaxGuru,

I currently use a car for my Insurance business, I drive a lot of miles and would like to use the standard mileage rate as I have driven 26,000 miles this year!

In relation to that what is the standard mileage allowed for 2006?

The other question I have is I would also like to deduct my car repair expense as I had substantial repairs on it this year, is this allowed if I choose the mileage rate?

The Standard mileage rate for 2006, for cars or auto's used in business is 44.5cents!

The answer to your other question, you can only use one of two methods

1. Mileage Method
or
2. Actual expenses prorated for business % useage.

If you use the mileage rate you cannot deduct for actual expenses and so the repair expenses would not be deductable.

If this is your first year of business usage, you can have your CPA run calculations using both methods and select one that yields the most deduction.