[davioh2001]

I was offered a part time job to supplement my full time job. The job would require I drive a lot of miles to remote locations that luckily have DCFC. So the concern is not being able to charge. The concern is the employer is only paying 0.20 cents a mile and not the standard 2019 IRS rate of 0.58 cents a mile. Although the 0.20 cents would not be taxed as income and would cover the charging sessions I don't think the deal is a fair deal. It is obvious that my bolt with 15K miles will be worth more than one that has been driven 10's of thousands of miles (say an extra 50k miles). If they are paying an extra 29k $ for my time and trouble driving an extra 50K miles over a few years I think it would be acceptable. If they pay me the proposed rate of 0.20 it would be only 10k $ for my time and trouble driving the extra 50K miles I honestly don't think it would be worth it. Even if EVERYTHING goes right it will still be much closer to 100K miles. Also estimating 50 miles per hour travel (which may actually be optimistic and incorrect when You throw in charging) it is 1000 hours of my life "wasted" driving. The math there would be effectively an additional 9-10$ per hour which is really a false calculation as I would not be including the extreme depreciation I would experience doing this travel job. Do You use bolt for work? Do you think its worth it? How much per mile do they pay you? Thanks for letting me ramble. I would appreciate forum's opinions on my quandary.

 

[zzzing]

20 cents a mile is not fair at all, not worth the wear and tear on you or the vehicle.

 

[wonderbolt]

I use my Bolt for work and I get the IRS rate. Currently 58 cents per mile.

Less than half that amount is not fair IMHO, actually I would question the legality of it as well..

 

[p7wang]

Sounds like the company is trying to take advantage of you.... so... if it pays by the hour, make sure you drive the speed limit.

 

[davioh2001]

I will add a complexity to the scenario by mentioning when I get to the destination city the work pays around $250 for about 3 hours of work.

 

[p7wang]

Wow, you must have a very particular set of skills.

 

[ZoomZoom]

Are you contract / independent or an actual direct hire employee of the company? If you are contract, it's nice they are paying you anything for the miles. In my state, they don't have to in either situation. Laws I'm sure vary from state to state.

 

[davioh2001]

I would be signing up as a 1099 independent contractor. I could easily imagine situations where I get there and the job falls through. I would feel a lot more comfortable talking the job with a guaranteed 58 cents a mile. That money would add up a lot quicker help pay for needed tires and expected depreciation.

 

[p7wang]

If a job falls through, you are also losing on hours of driving. I believe you meant you are only being compensated 20 cents a mile without regard of your time spent driving, right?

 

[davioh2001]

Part of the agreement is if the job falls through they would pay around $150 to make up for it. Although it sounds generous on the surface I have to make a careful decision. A lot of bad things can happen on the road and it's good to have the proper money to pay when or if the problems arise (blown out tires/ having to get a motel due to job taking longer than anticipated / charging taking way longer due to faulty chargers the list goes on). I'm still looking at the overall math of almost $600 per 1000 miles vs $200 per 1000 miles. The extra IRS money could make a huge difference for me especially if something goes wrong on the road. I am going to hold out for the IRS money.

 

[Jim Fallston Md.]

I am not a tax adviser but I was a courier for many years and if I remember correctly IRS allows you to take the 58 cents per mile for non reimbursed mileage. You should be able to claim the other 38 cents per mile when you file. But I would check with your tax person.

 

[psyflyjohn]

Sounds like minimal money. A lot depends on other factors - how much you like driving, can the job lead to some advancement, etc. If it's strictly for the money, think twice...

 

[LooseBolt]

Will $.20/mi even pay for the DCFC charging? You might want to check on the rates of the chargers you plan to use and figure in actual mi/kWh usage. If its as tight as you say on the dollars this might matter.

 

[davioh2001]

I am not a tax adviser but I was a courier for many years and if I remember correctly IRS allows you to take the 58 cents per mile for non reimbursed mileage. You should be able to claim the other 38 cents per mile when you file. But I would check with your tax person.

Jim my buddy has been a CPA for 30 years. It totally depends on individual situations if the itemized deduction total is greater than 12,200 it makes more financial sense to itemize. Example I drove 50000 for the company's business purpose. That was the ONLY expense I actually had 50000 X 0.58 (for year 2019) = $29000 ok to itemize. Example #2 only drove 5000 Mile X 0.58 = $2900. Also had a $3000 business cel phone. 2900+3000= $5900 the individual items add up to much less than standard deduction. Itemizing causes You to get a smaller deduction number and a higher not lower tax bill.

 

[davioh2001]

Will $.20/mi even pay for the DCFC charging? You might want to check on the rates of the chargers you plan to use and figure in actual mi/kWh usage. If its as tight as you say on the dollars this might matter.

It probably would have worked through the lowest price EA plan $60 would take care of probably 4-5 DCFC sessions on EA. It's all a moot point now as I rejected their offer but took another job same company but no traveling.

 

[redpoint5]

I looked into an EV for my travels and determined it wasn't good because it's important that I be able to get to my destination as quickly as possible, and since I get paid for travel time, I couldn't justify billing for charging time. There's no way I'd be willing to wait on charging while not getting paid while on the way to a job. That said, if I were being paid by the mile, an EV would be very tempting to me since the cost per mile is so low.

 

[davioh2001]

A further comment on the topic - LOTS of IRS paid miles in a Bolt. My math assuming You did 50000 miles at 0.58 cents per mile minus 0.10 cents per mile for charging and tires. It would be 50000 X 0.48 = net paid 24000 USD. Other assumptions. You got a discounted price on bolt which was no more than around 30000 USD including TTL and no fiance costs (0 percent interest or paid cash - not factoring "time value of money"). Assume no wrecks in the 50000 extra miles You drove for the company. Assume around 75% depreciation from Your price= used value of around 9K USD (assume 100k total miles on ODO at that point 50K miles for Company and 50K miles personal). Assume You like driving so much that the 1000 or so hours You spend driving and charging are unpaid and that's okay with You. So it seems like after 50000 extra miles at IRS rate You have actually received enough IRS $ to pay off the Bolt+ Charging + Tires and maybe are even a few thousand ahead. Still seems like a tough way to make extra $.

 

[p7wang]

10K miles X 58 cents = $5,800 tax deduction, worth $1,276 at 22% FIT rate, let's say $2K if you factor in SE tax too. It will take 190K miles to recoup $38K in cash - ignoring operating costs.

 

[davioh2001]

I'm Not talking about Tax deductions. I am talking about the actual cash the company pays YOU as the driver for that business. If You find a company that pays You IRS standard rate they are by the law allowed to pay that cash direct to You and it DOES NOT COUNT AS INCOME. It is a non taxable source of $ for you as the driver. As far as the IRS is concerned the money does not even need to be counted and does not even exist. This assumes the mileages are payments are actually legitimately for business purposes.

 

[JaxEVLyftUber]

I expense $0.58 when driving for work (An easy policy to implement since I own the company)

The deduction of $0.58 / mile just about exactly negates 1099 income from LyftUber.

The key is keeping track, and that I carefully do.