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Tracking business expenses so the deduction actually holds

The difference between a charge and a deduction, the $75 receipt line, what mileage records have to contain, and why reconstructing it later does not work.

7 min read · Updated September 21, 2026

A charge is not a deduction

A line on a bank statement shows that money moved. It does not show what it was for, and the business purpose is the part that makes it deductible.

The burden of proof is on the taxpayer. An expense with no record behind it is not a contested deduction, it is an absent one.

This matters most for the expenses that look personal from outside: a restaurant, a hardware shop, a flight. The statement line is identical either way.

The $75 line

Below $75, a documentary receipt is generally not required, though you still need a record of the amount, date, place and business purpose.

At or above $75, and for lodging at any amount, a receipt is expected.

The threshold is commonly misremembered as permission to keep nothing under $75. It is permission to keep no paper, not permission to keep no record.

Mileage is its own standard

Publication 463 asks for date, miles, destination and business purpose, per trip. An annual total is not a record, however honestly it was arrived at.

Commuting between home and a regular place of work is never deductible, whatever the distance. Travel between two work locations generally is.

You choose between the standard rate per mile and actual vehicle costs, and the standard rate already includes fuel, maintenance, insurance and depreciation, so those cannot be claimed on top.

Why March does not work

Reconstruction in March fails in two directions at once. Deductions are missed, because nobody remembers what a $43 charge in June was for, and deductions are claimed without support, because the charge looked business-shaped.

The first costs money quietly. The second is the one that does not hold up.

Recording at the point of the charge takes seconds and is the only version that is both complete and defensible.

This describes how these rules work in general. It is not tax advice, and whether any of it applies to your situation is a question for someone who knows it. Figures change every year; this page was last checked September 21, 2026.

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