I provide all his transportation. Can I deduct my mileage on my taxes?

Nope. Sorry about that.

You can't deduct the mileage. But to deal with that issue, I have a credit card tied into my parents' account and I charge all my vehicle expenses to that card (gas, oil change, insurance, brake job). It doesn't cover the complete cost because there's nothing for depreciation, but it does seem to balance things out for me, at least in my mind.

I'm pretty sure that your brother would have to be declared your qualifying dependent in order to deduct mileage and that would only be for transportation to medical care.

Again, you cannot deduct the mileage. If he were your dependent you would still have to meet the AGI % on Schedule A even to get to take the itemized deduction under medical and related issues. Mom is my dependent and lives with me and we have yet to meet this threshold. I find if we need to make big Mom Only trips to put the entire event on Mom's charge card, lodging, gas, meals etc. If we are just taking small trips here and there every once and a while I will charge a tank of gas on her card. Make sure to keep receipts and label them. Hope this helps.

I was told last year that I can count the mileage on all my trips to visit my husband in the nursing home, and before he went in all his trips to Dr, pharmacy, therapy, etc. Anything medically related can be counted in the medical costs section including the monthly amount paid for his nursing home. I will be seeing my tax person soon. for last year.

If you worked for your brother and he paid you and you reported the income on your taxes as self employment then you could count some of your mileage...if he was a dependant as others stated then you could count some of the miles. Otherwise no you cannot take a deduction.

IF you did any transportation for YOURSELF or your spouse, then calculate .25 per mile for doctor's visits. Unless you have your brother as a dependent can you deduct mileage from your taxes. I have doctor's mileages already calculated and when I look at my calendar at the end of the year with the name of the doctor, it is easy to just plug in the amount allowed by the IRS. Otherwise you are "gifting" your gas and wear and tear on your car yourself.

Wow! This is a hard one for me to answer since I'm on SSI and it's not taxable. However, what I would do in your case is to just call the IRS and just ask them. Explain the situation, and if you can't deduct the mileage, you might want to explore your options and see what You would have to do to maybe take guardianship of your brother.

Then again, it sounds like he may already be your dependent since you provide all of his transportation.

Do you also provide other care as well as transportation?
If so, he may already be your dependent since he's disabled.

I don't know what your arrangement with him may be, but I think it's time to sit down with him and have a talk. I can understand that putting a lot of mileage on your car would not only use more gas, but it would also cause more wear and tear on your car.

Have you ever considered charging a monthly fee for all of the transportation you provide? This is one option that would help you because there would be extra money coming in for your services. You want to find out where all of your brothers money is going if he happens to be in charge of his own money. Somehow, there should be a way for him to help with the cost of transporting him.

Although Your brother is disabled, is he able to learn to drive? Depending on his physical and mental abilities, maybe he could get a permit pack and learn to drive. Eventually, he can save to get his own car. If he's in a wheelchair, there are cars specifically built for that, but I don't know how you get them. I've even seen special motorcycles for wheelchairs were you just drive up inside the special enclosure built for the wheelchair. This is how I know there are special vehicles just for wheelchairs, I even saw a special kind of handicap car where you enter from the back with your wheelchair and just drive up to the wheel. Shut the back and go, but this is how those kinds of cars and some handicap motorcycles are built. Again, I've seen them (but I don't know how you get them).

If your brother cannot learn to drive, is there anyway you can get him to start calling the cab? Cabs are everywhere as well as other public transit. If you happen to live in a big city, you may actually look into the possibility of taking the train. I know that up in Cleveland Ohio they have a special train service where you can get an all day pass. It's been a while since I've been up there, but last time I was a few years ago, the all day tickets were about five dollars. You pay attention to what time you got the ticket and what time it expires. You must watch the time so that you don't get confronted by a security guard on the train. If you do your shopping at night, you may want to use the train at night. When I was there, the best and safest time to ride the train was actually late at night. That train station never closes and there are many stops. I don't know if you live in Cleveland or if you ever just visited there, but either way, the trains are very handy and very cheap. I don't know if you live in a big city, but if you do, definitely explore public transit for your brother. This would save wear and tear as well as cost on your car because your car will definitely need gas and it will be in and out of the shop more.

Another option to explore areas maybe doing all of your running around on a specific day. You can actually save gas and wear and tear on your car.

I don't know how far away he lives from you, but have you ever considered the possibility of one of you moving closer to the other? This would definitely save on gas and wear and tear on the car.

Are there any nice parks near home? Perhaps he can go to the park. These days parks are showing up everywhere. The builders of these parks make them attractive enough to invite the public to visit. Some parks have nothing to do because they are sitting parks. Some areas have sitting parks where you can enjoy nature or whatever the surroundings are. Of course, other parks have swings and picnic areas. Each park is different in some way or another, and you may want to explore any nearby parks that will help your brother get out of the house a little. You never know that he might not start making friends once you get him started going to the park, depending on how many people actually visit the park. Somehow parks are actually pretty big, but others are small.

Are there any community activities you can get your brother involved in? Let's say maybe some kind of volunteer program where he can use his time to help others. This would also get him out of the house. Being pretty much housebound can be boring and even depressing, especially in situations where you have no one helping you. Winters around here can vary year-to-year, and sometimes during winter you can be stuck indoors until the weather breaks and the snow melts. This is why people stock up for winter. You can do this kind of shopping throughout the year and just put stuff away. When winter comes, you can just live on the stored products. I don't know if it's winter where you are, but storing up for winter definitely saves gas and wear and tear on your car. The next time you go out, you may want to consider helping your brother stock up for what's left of winter. Winter may be nearly over now, but what you can do since now you know how often you take your brother out to the store and such, you can just get him enough products to last the whole month. If he goes through those products pretty fast, you may consider holding the excess at your place until he needs more of whatever it is. Let's say he needs bread. How many loaves does he use in a month? OK, let's say he uses about eight. You can store the excess at your house and just dispense it to him as he needs it. Basements are very good for storing extra products. I have seen a situation where someone does this, and again, basements are very handy. If you live in an older home with secret closets, you could use the secret closet for storing extra products, depending on how big that secret closet really is. Some Victorian homes have features that would surprise you.

These are just some ideas to get you thinking how to make your situation better. I'm sure they're having to do extra transportation must be very stressful, especially if you happen to go through heavy traffic areas. Being in heavy traffic especially during rush hours can be especially stressful. Perhaps you can plan some of your travel or maybe even all of it at times you can avoid heavy traffic. Using back street's is especially helpful to avoid heavy traffic. Again, these are just some thoughts and ideas on how to make your current situation better. I hope you can actually use something I shared here

Good luck getting a phone call into the IRS. I'm waiting for our refund and they are still showing the "we'll let you know" message...

I would think that the IRS has a "call center" and you would get a generic answer and to get a full certified person to answer that specific question and to get their name/work ID # to show it on taxes (good luck). and I would only think you could get money for that is for your brother to be your "dependent", just because you take him places does not mean he is your dependent. If you were a mother and had 2 children (they are your dependents)......so I would just explain to your brother you would like some re-imbursement towards the gas for running him to appointments. good luck

Is your brother receiving Medicaid through any Waiver services? If he is, you might be able to use waiver funds to pay for transportation and even the time you spend taking him places. If he is on a Waiver, I'd be glad to tell you how this works between my mom and my sister. Good luck!

This is clearly a question that requires a professional's response! Either call the IRS, as some here have suggested (and good luck on getting them to answer the phone!!) OR speak to your tax professional!

We are NOT (to my knowledge) tax professionals here and cannot give you such legal/financial advice!

wamnanealz, yes you can deduct medical mileage for yourself and your husband as you probably file a joint tax return.

The original poster, donna, doesn't live with her brother, and chances are high that she does not file a joint tax return with him.

Anita, i worked in tax office 11 years no she cannot take deduction based on info she provided.

That's correct. Qualifying dependent-key words!