Easily track your miles (with just one button) and download later for expense reports

Easily track your miles (with just one button) and download later for help with mileage reporting

It’s tax season again and whether or not you expect money back from Uncle Sam or know you’re going to be sending him a check, you’re most likely dreading the whole process. Even if you have an accountant, pulling together receipts, logging information, and gathering all your relevant government forms is generally something most people consider a time-consuming chore.

If you’re a business owner, one of the deductions you probably monitor is mileage on your vehicles. For example, for 2009, the optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile will be 55 cents per mile for business miles driven. For 2008, the business mileage rate was 50.5 cents in the first half of the year and 58.5 cents in the second half.

Depending on your type of business and how many vehicles you use for it, this deduction may really add up. Log 25,000 miles for 2009 for example, and that’s $13,750 in deductions. But accurately keeping track of all of the miles driven for the year is important – and this isn’t always easy.

One option that might make this process simpler is the TeleNav Shotgun – our connected personal navigation device that will let you easily track miles driven (while getting turn-by-turn directions or just while driving). The device connects to the Internet via the wireless network so all of this information is stored for 24 months on your account and can be downloaded from your PC and exported into an Excel or PDF document. This eliminates any manual note taking or scribbles on backs of gas receipts and it also may help you keep more accurate records that are easy to share with the IRS if needed.

So if you’re thinking about using GPS navigation for your business anyway, you might want to think about trying out the TeleNav Shotgun which can save you a lot of time and hassle when Uncle Sam comes knockin’ again next year.