• FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

CFO Daily News

  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Payroll
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Finance Technology
  • More
    • Employment Law
    • Strategy
    • Policy and Culture
    • Fraud
    • Payments and Transactions
    • Budgeting and Forecasting
    • Banking
    • Staff Management
    • Cost Control
    • Supply Chain
    • IT

No help from IRS on mileage rate: What you can do

Jennifer Azara
by Jennifer Azara
June 10, 2011
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

They did it in 2005 and 2008, but IRS has made it clear you’ll see no mid-year bump in the standard mileage rate in 2011. So what can you do? Plenty.

A recent announcement makes it clear your company won’t be able to offer more than 51 cents for every business mile driven – the rate set last December – unless you want to tax employees on it (and no one wants that!).

Still, gas prices are downright painful and the summer’s just beginning.  Which means your company probably wants to do what it can to ease employees’ gas pains.  That’s even more critical now since, in an attempt to tame T&E costs, more companies are encouraging employees to avoid pricey flights and take to the road for company business whenever possible.

Fortunately, there are several small things Finance can do without IRS’s assist. And the little things can add up.

See how many of these three strategies your company can offer employees to show them Finance is sympathetic to their situation:

Option 1: Give folks the inside track on cheap gas

Why not get the most from those 51 cents? There are tons of websites that alert you to the cheapest local gas, updated daily. Just a few of them:

  • http://gasbuddy.com/
  • http://gasprices.mapquest.com/
  • http://autos.msn.com/everyday/GasStationsBeta.aspx

Think about posting these on Finance’s page on your intranet, or encourage business travelers to bookmark them on their own PCs. You might even send an email from Finance alerting employees to the best spots to fill up each Monday morning.

Option 2: Pass along best practices for ‘filling up’

Did you know that you should always fill your tank and never let it run below a quarter of a tank? How about that changing your car’s spark plugs increases the gas mileage you get? Many employees may not, either.

By passing along such tips, employees can get more from the money they do spend on gas and even prolong the life of their vehicles.

Option 3: Send ’em back to IRS!

If your company reimburses at a rate that’s lower than the IRS rate, you can also console employees with the fact that they can deduct the difference on their personal income taxes.

Chances are most of them won’t bother, but again, it’s another way to show employees you’ve got their backs and are looking for ways to conserve their cash.

Has your company done anything to ease employess’ “gas pains”? Share it here.

Jennifer Azara
Jennifer Azara
Jennifer, a member of the CFO Daily News staff, has covered business and finance for more than 22 years. She has written for CFOs, credit and collections professionals and accounts payable practitioners and has spoken at industry conferences on sales and use tax compliance.

Keep Up To Date with the Latest Finance News

With CFO Daily News arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on accounting, benefits, payroll & employment law strategies.

Sign up for a free CFO Daily News membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
CFO Daily News Logo
  • ABOUT CFO DAILY NEWS
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Payroll
  • Policy and Culture
  • Employment Law
  • Fraud
  • Finance Technology
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Strategy
  • Payments and Transactions
  • Budgeting and Forecasting
  • Banking
  • Staff Management
  • Cost Control
  • Supply Chain
  • IT

CFO Daily News, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest Finance and employment law news for Finance professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, CFO Daily News delivers actionable insights, helping Finance execs understand what Finance trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

preloader