I know I’m not alone when I say taxes can be confusing. So confusing that the annual changes to the laws and rates has given birth to a 7.7 BILLION dollar tax preparation industry. Whether you have someone do your taxes, or you do them yourself, here’s a couple tips for using Expensify in 2014.
1. The IRS mileage rate is lower this year.
The IRS lowered the mileage rate to 56 cents/mile. That’s .5 cents lower than 2013. (Last year it was 56.5 per mile) If you are using Expensify to track your mileage, make sure you log in to the Expensify website and change the rate. All new Expensify accounts created after the mileage rate change takes effect will already be updated with the new rate. More details at IRS.gov.
NOTE: We don’t automatically change the rate for existing users because many companies use a custom rate.
2. If you don’t like that rate, you can track your actual vehicle expenses and deduct that
You don’t HAVE to use the IRS mileage rate. If you think it actually costs you more to maintain your vehicle than 56 cents/mile then you can track your actual expenses and use that as your deduction. (This is where Expensify comes in handy) Be sure to record all gas, oil, repairs, tires, insurance, registration fees, licenses, and depreciation (or lease payments) attributable to the portion of the total miles driven that are business miles.
Other car expenses for parking fees and tolls attributable to business use are separately deductible, whether you use the standard mileage rate or actual expenses.
3. Record your receipts at the time of purchase, don’t wait until the end of the month to scan them all.
Hoarding a pile of receipts until the end of the month is so 2013. To get the full benefit of Expensify, take a picture of your receipts right when you get it and liberate yourself from the pocket full of receipts. You’re more likely to lose receipts if you have a bunch floating about your person all month. Just get a picture of it ASAP and be done with it. (Luckily you have a great App to do that.)
4. Linking your card to Expensify can save you if you lose a receipt
Let’s say you ignore #2 and decide to store your receipts in your coat pocket and end up losing one. No problem, as long as you’ve linked your card to Expensify, you’re still ok. Expensify creates IRS compliant eReceipts for all purchases under $75. You read that right – if your card or bank is linked to Expensify, we will import your transactions into Expensify and on top of that, automatically create a receipt for you! This is a lifesaver for those of you who habitually lose receipts.
We’re extremely excited for 2014. Our revamped new site just went live last week and there’s plenty of new and exciting things planned for the future. We look forward to making your life easier in 2014 and in the years to come!
Expensify Blog 
I am fascinated by the potential of this app, but I need to know, the images it processes… are they stored in the cloud? How would I access them if I need them as proof? Does that app print a report? Personal information privacy concerns here. After all the app is free. How do I know you will have my records when I might need them a few years down the road. I would definitely want a yearly pdf to file with my tax records as back up.
Hey Cathy!
Great questions!
The images are indeed stored in the cloud. We have multiple geo-redundant servers that will store your expenses and receipt images for as long as you need them. You can print your reports and receipts as PDFs whenever you need them. We are a financial technology company with some huge multi-national companies as customers. We maintain bank level security, we are PCI compliant and regularly are audited by security firms and major world banks.
The app is free for individuals, however for companies it is a paid product once they grow to a size where they are submitted and approving more than 2 expense reports a month. We have 1.8 million users and 250,000 companies use Expensify so you don’t need to worry about that – we aren’t going anywhere.
Once again, great questions! I recommend you go ahead and create an account, download the app and give it a spin. After all, its free for individuals. Thanks!