Auto in S-Corp

[Gretel]

Now, the commute miles could be considered business if the corporation required the car to be driven home instead of staying on the parking lot at the office.
This would be to prevent any damage to vehicle and to prevent it from being stolen.
This would be in the minutes of a corporate meeting.

Wow, learn something new every day. Is there any reference? Does it really work with a one person corporation? For some companies this could be a reason to incorporate and not be a LLC.

[veritas]

Wow, learn something new every day. Is there any reference? Does it really work with a one person corporation? For some companies this could be a reason to incorporate and not be a LLC.

I don't know about this. If it so I have been losing out on my company car.

[OldJack]

Say What????

Now, the commute miles could be considered business if the corporation required the car to be driven home instead of staying on the parking lot at the office.
This would be to prevent any damage to vehicle and to prevent it from being stolen.
This would be in the minutes of a corporate meeting.

I would believe that if I could see some court case or tax reference. Otherwise, I think this is only a good argument for a dumb IRS auditor.

[Bees Knees]

Now, the commute miles could be considered business if the corporation required the car to be driven home instead of staying on the parking lot at the office.
This would be to prevent any damage to vehicle and to prevent it from being stolen.
This would be in the minutes of a corporate meeting.

That is not really true. Commute miles would still be considered personal, even under a company policy. The only thing the company policy does is provide an excuse for not keeping actual mileage records.

The Form 4562 instructions talk about this:

Section C
Employers providing vehicles to their
employees satisfy the employer’s
substantiation requirements under section
274(d) by maintaining a written policy
statement that:
• Prohibits personal use including
commuting or
• Prohibits personal use except for
commuting.
An employee does not need to keep
separate set of records for any vehicle
that satisfies these written policy
statement rules.
For both written policy statements,
there must be evidence that would enable
the IRS to determine whether use of the
vehicle meets the conditions stated
below.

Line 37
A policy statement that prohibits personal
use (including commuting) must meet all
of the following conditions.
• The employer owns or leases the
vehicle and provides it to one or more
employees for use in the employer’s trade
or business.
• When the vehicle is not used in the
employer’s trade or business, it is kept on
the employer’s business premises, unless
it is temporarily located elsewhere (e.g.,
for maintenance or because of a
mechanical failure).
• No employee using the vehicle lives at
the employer’s business premises.
• No employee may use the vehicle
personal purposes, other than de minimis
personal use (e.g., a stop for lunch
between two business deliveries).
• Except for de minimis use, the
employer reasonably believes that no
employee uses the vehicle for any
personal purpose.

Line 38
A policy statement that prohibits personal
use (except for commuting) is not
available if the commuting employee is an
officer, director, or 1% or more owner.
This policy must meet all of the following
conditions.
• The employer owns or leases the
vehicle and provides it to one or more
employees for use in the employer’s trade
or business, and it is used in the
employer’s trade or business.
• For bona fide noncompensatory
business reasons, the employer requires
the employee to commute to and/or from
work in the vehicle.
• The employer establishes a written
policy under which the employee may not
use the vehicle for personal purposes,
other than commuting or de minimis
personal use (e.g., a stop for a personal
errand between a business delivery and
the employee’s home).
• Except for de minimis use, the
employer reasonably believes that the
employee does not use the vehicle for
any personal purpose other than
commuting.
• The employer accounts for the
commuting use by including an
appropriate amount in the employee’s
gross income.

Notice the last bullet under line 38 where company policy prohibits personal use except for commuting. Even though the mileage log is not required, the company must still include something in the employee's gross income on the W-2.