Multi-Vehicle Mileage Tracking for Schedule C (2026)

If you drive two or more vehicles for the same self-employed business, the IRS does not let you bucket the miles together. Schedule C treats every vehicle as its own little tax animal — with its own placed-in-service date, its own business-use percentage, its own method election (standard mileage versus actual expenses), and its own §274(d) substantiation burden. Most drivers learn this the hard way at audit.

This guide walks four real-world personas through what multi-vehicle tax reporting actually looks like in 2026, why automatic per-vehicle detection (Bluetooth pairing, CarPlay session ID) is the only realistic way to keep clean records when more than one set of keys is in play, and the specific lines on Schedule C Part IV and Form 4562 Part V that the IRS reads first.

Key takeaways

• One Schedule C, multiple vehicles. You report a single car-and-truck total on Schedule C Line 9. But Schedule C Part IV (or Form 4562 Part V Section B) requires per-vehicle detail: placed-in-service date, business miles, commuting miles, other miles, and evidence questions for each vehicle.
• Method elections are per vehicle, not per taxpayer. You can take the standard mileage rate (72.5¢ in 2026, Notice 2026-10) on one car and actual expenses with §179 on another in the same business — but the lockout under Rev. Proc. 2019-46 applies to each vehicle individually for its life.
• §274(d) is per vehicle too. Each business mile has to be tagged to a specific vehicle. If you fail substantiation on one car the IRS disallows that car’s deduction; the failure pattern usually triggers closer inspection of the other.

Why two vehicles is more than twice as hard as one

EveryLastMile, an iOS mileage tracking app, was built around the fact that Schedule C has a designated home for multi-vehicle reporting — and that home is unforgiving. Look at Part IV. Line 43 asks when you placed the vehicle in service. Lines 44a, 44b, and 44c ask for business, commuting, and other miles. Lines 45 and 46 ask whether the vehicle was available for personal use and whether you (or your spouse) have another vehicle available for personal use. Lines 47a and 47b ask whether you have evidence and whether the evidence is written. The Schedule C instructions are explicit: “If you used more than one vehicle during the year, attach a statement with the information requested in Schedule C, Part IV, for each additional vehicle.” Form 4562 Part V Section B does the same job when you claim depreciation or actual expenses.

This per-vehicle reporting matters because three other rules stack on top of it:

1. Per-vehicle method election under Rev. Proc. 2019-46. You must choose standard mileage versus actual expenses in the first year each vehicle is placed in service for business. If you claim §179, bonus depreciation, or MACRS in year one, you are locked out of standard mileage on that vehicle for its entire life. The lockout applies vehicle by vehicle. Your sedan’s method does not bind your truck.
2. §274(d) strict substantiation per vehicle. Treas. Reg. §1.274-5T(b)(6) requires four elements for each trip: amount (miles), time, place (destination), and business purpose. The records have to be contemporaneous and, under the case law going back to Sanford v. Commissioner, 50 T.C. 823 (1968), the Cohan rule of estimation is barred for §274(d) expenses. Each vehicle needs its own log.
3. Disposal mechanics. When you sell, total, or trade a business vehicle, the standard mileage rate’s built-in depreciation component reduced your basis every year — Notice 2026-10 specifies that “the portion of the business standard mileage rate treated as depreciation is 26 cents per mile for 2022, 28 cents per mile for 2023, 30 cents per mile for 2024, 33 cents per mile for 2025, and 35 cents per mile for 2026.” Gain up to total depreciation taken is §1245 ordinary income recapture, reported on Form 4797.

The operational problem: without automation, a driver bouncing between two vehicles forgets which one was used for a Tuesday afternoon supply run. The trip lands in one bucket, the audit fails, both deductions get scrutinized.

The fix is automatic per-vehicle detection — which is exactly what EveryLastMile’s Bluetooth pairing and CarPlay session detection were built for. Each vehicle’s stereo broadcasts a unique Bluetooth device ID. The app reads that ID, tags the trip to the right vehicle profile, and stores the result on-device. We will show how it plays out in four real situations.

Persona 1: Marcus, the gig driver running two vehicles

Marcus is the multi-platform delivery driver from prior articles in this series. In 2026 he is running two vehicles. His 2020 Toyota Camry covers nighttime Uber and Lyft rideshare — the vehicle is registered with both platforms and he prefers it for passengers. His 2018 Ford Transit Connect cargo van handles Amazon Flex blocks and a contracted weekend courier route that requires cargo capacity the Camry cannot deliver.

Both vehicles ran heavy business miles in 2026. The Camry: 18,200 business miles, 4,100 commuting miles, and 3,700 other miles, for a total of 26,000. The Transit Connect: 9,400 business miles, zero commuting (Marcus stages it at home and starts the route there), and 2,100 other miles, totaling 11,500.

Both vehicles on standard mileage — by design

Marcus elected the standard mileage rate on the Camry in 2020, the year he started rideshare. When he added the Transit Connect in 2026, he made the same election on that vehicle for its first year of business use. Both elections survive intact under Rev. Proc. 2019-46. The 2026 rate of 72.5¢ per mile applies uniformly across both vehicles regardless of make or model.

That single Line 9 number is supported by two separate Part IV worksheets — one for the Camry, one for the Transit Connect — attached per the Schedule C instructions.

What Bluetooth and CarPlay solve

Marcus’s iPhone pairs to the Camry’s CarPlay stack every time he sits in the driver’s seat. CarPlay generates a unique session ID for that vehicle. The cargo van uses a basic aftermarket head unit that pairs over Bluetooth Classic with its own device address. EveryLastMile’s per-vehicle profile maps each device ID to a VIN. Every trip auto-routes to the right vehicle log without Marcus tapping anything.

When he drops the Camry at the shop for an oil change and Uber dispatches him in a loaner, the loaner does not match either profile. The app flags the trip as “unknown vehicle” so Marcus can decide: personal, temporary-business (rental for substantiation under Treas. Reg. §1.274-5T(c)(2)(ii)(B)), or unrelated. That manual override is the only time he touches the app.

Why two clean logs matter at audit

If Marcus is audited, the examiner will issue an Information Document Request asking for mileage logs by vehicle. EveryLastMile exports two VIN-tagged CSV files plus a PDF cover sheet that mirrors Schedule C Part IV. The Camry’s 18,200 business miles tie to the line, the Transit Connect’s 9,400 tie to the line, and Line 9 reconciles. A 2023 Tax Court summary opinion in Craddock v. Commissioner drove this point home: the F-150 driver’s mileage log did not break out personal versus business miles and was contradicted by his bank statements, and the court disallowed the deduction outright. Marcus’s logs are internally consistent because they were generated contemporaneously by the device.

The traps Marcus avoids

• Method drift. If Marcus ever claimed §179 on the Transit Connect, he would forfeit standard mileage on that van for life. He keeps both vehicles on standard mileage to preserve year-to-year flexibility.
• Vehicle swaps mid-shift. Two-vehicle gig days happen — courier route in the morning, rideshare at night. Without auto-detection, the miles blur. With it, each trip carries a VIN tag from the moment it starts.
• Records after a sale. If Marcus sells the Camry in 2027 and replaces it, he keeps the Camry’s historical trip data in EveryLastMile’s cloud through the §6501 statute of limitations period — three years from filing in the ordinary case, six if there is a substantial understatement.

Persona 2: Sara and Jack, the real estate agent couple

Sara is the real estate agent from prior articles in Mileage Tracking for Real Estate Agents. She drives a 2026 Chevrolet Tahoe for showings — it is registered to her, it carries her signage, and it qualifies for §179 expensing on a heavy SUV under the $32,000 cap in IRC §179(b)(5)(A) as adjusted for tax years beginning in 2026 (per Rev. Proc. 2025-32). Jack, her husband, works a W-2 job and drives a 2023 Honda Pilot registered to him. Occasionally Sara borrows the Pilot to drive a client when the Tahoe is unavailable.

Sara’s Tahoe ran 14,100 total miles in 2026, 12,000 of which were business — 85% business use. Her Pilot trips totaled 850 business miles when she drove clients in it; the Pilot’s remaining 10,000-plus miles were Jack’s personal commuting.

Whose Schedule C and whose vehicle?

Sara files Schedule C. Jack does not — he is W-2 only. The Tahoe is straightforward: it is hers, it is in her business, 85% of its miles are deductible.

The Pilot is the interesting case. The Tax Court has been skeptical of business-use claims for vehicles titled to someone other than the Schedule C taxpayer. In Dunn v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2022-112, a partnership’s depreciation deductions on a Ford Explorer titled in the wife’s name (not the partnership’s) were denied. The court wrote: “Petitioners failed to explain why Magnet should be entitled to deductions for property it did not own.” The case involved a partnership, not a Schedule C, but the principle carries: a deduction requires both economic ownership or use rights and §274(d) substantiation of business use.

For Sara, the cleaner path is this — when she uses the Pilot, she documents her own business use of it. The trip is hers (her client, her commission), and she keeps a contemporaneous record showing she was the driver, the business purpose, the destination, and the miles. She does not try to deduct miles Jack drives in the Pilot for personal commuting.

Mixed method on one Schedule C

This is where Sara’s planning is sharp. She elected §179 plus bonus depreciation on the Tahoe in year one — a heavy SUV over 6,000 pounds GVWR qualifies under §179(b)(5) up to the $32,000 SUV sub-cap, and 100% bonus depreciation is back under §168(k) for property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025, per OBBBA §70301 and IRS Notice 2026-11. See our Section 179 Heavy Vehicle Deduction (2026) guide for the decision frame. The Tahoe is locked into the actual expense method for life: depreciation already taken plus operating costs (gas, insurance, maintenance, repairs) multiplied by 85% business use.

The Pilot, by contrast, is on standard mileage at 72.5¢ per mile for Sara’s business use of it. This is a low-friction deduction with very low audit profile.

Schedule C Line 9 combines: Tahoe (actual expenses portion) plus Pilot ($616.25) plus parking and tolls. Form 4562 Part V Section A handles Tahoe depreciation. Part V Section B shows mileage per vehicle.

Per-vehicle automation makes it sustainable

Sara’s phone pairs to the Tahoe over CarPlay automatically. When she drives the Pilot, her phone pairs to the Pilot’s Bluetooth audio system — a different device ID. EveryLastMile routes each trip to the right vehicle. When Jack drives the Pilot for his commute, Sara’s phone is not in the car, so nothing is logged in her records. The device-based detection sidesteps the awkward question of who drove the Pilot today and for what reason.

The audit angle on §179 plus standard

A §179-claimed Tahoe receives disproportionate IRS scrutiny because of the $32,000 immediate write-off plus 100% bonus depreciation. The Pilot’s standard-mileage claim is small and clean. Per-vehicle records keep the audit focused on the Tahoe and prevent contamination of the Pilot’s position. If Sara fails on one, only one collapses.

Persona 3: Devon, the contractor with a work truck and a commuter car

Devon runs an independent residential plumbing business. His 2022 Ford F-150 SuperCrew is the work truck — 6,500-pound GVWR, 6.5-foot bed, tools and parts permanently stored, ladder rack, and “Devon Plumbing” decals on both sides. His 2019 Honda Civic is the personal car, occasionally used for office, bank, and supply-store runs.

F-150 totals for 2026: 14,800 business miles, 1,800 commuting (his shop is in town; even contractors have commuting if they have a fixed work site), 2,400 other, for 19,000 total. Civic totals: 1,200 business miles, 9,800 personal, for 11,000 total.

Per-vehicle method elections

Devon elected §179 plus bonus depreciation on the F-150 in its first year of business use. Because the F-150 is a “heavy” vehicle over 6,000 pounds GVWR and meets the §179(d)(1) requirements, it qualifies for the larger §179 dollar limits, and the bed length over six feet means it is treated as a truck rather than an SUV for §179 purposes — which sidesteps the $32,000 SUV sub-cap entirely. The F-150 is locked into actual expenses for life. Devon tracks all operating costs and depreciates the basis under MACRS or the §280F caps as applicable.

The Civic is on standard mileage at 72.5¢ per mile. Business use is small but real, and the Civic’s method election is independent of the F-150’s. This is the mixed-method case, entirely permissible because Rev. Proc. 2019-46’s lockout works vehicle by vehicle.

The “qualified nonpersonal use vehicle” question

Treas. Reg. §1.274-5(k) lists vehicles that, “by reason of [their] nature (that is, design), [are] not likely to be used more than a de minimis amount for personal purposes.” The list includes ambulances, hearses, vehicles designed to carry cargo over 14,000 pounds, school buses, qualified specialized utility repair trucks, and clearly marked public safety vehicles. Under §1.274-5(k)(7), a pickup truck or van qualifies only if it has been “specially modified” so that it is unlikely to be used more than a de minimis amount for personal purposes.

The Tax Court explored this exact question in Hoakison v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2022-117. The Hoakisons ran an Iowa farm with multiple pickup trucks. The court held that several Ford F-series pickups used as tool trucks were “tractors and other special purpose farm vehicles” under Treas. Reg. §1.274-5(k)(2)(ii)(Q) and therefore not subject to the strict §274(d) substantiation. But a 1999 Dodge Dakota that the taxpayer claimed was a field truck did not qualify — the court applied §274(d), found the substantiation lacking, and disallowed those deductions.

The takeaway for Devon: a heavily modified work truck with permanent tool storage, ladder rack, and business signage can fall within the qualified nonpersonal use vehicle definition. That relaxes per-trip business purpose tagging for the F-150. The Civic, a stock passenger automobile, gets none of that relief and requires rigorous trip-by-trip documentation. The Mileage Audit Defense Playbook walks through what “rigorous” means in practice.

Bluetooth and CarPlay split the duty automatically

The F-150 pairs over Bluetooth to Devon’s iPhone. The Civic uses CarPlay. EveryLastMile tags each trip to the right vehicle the moment Devon turns the key. He doesn’t think about it. The bank-deposit run on Tuesday morning in the F-150 lands in the F-150 log. The Saturday Home Depot trip in the Civic — which also happens to include picking up a fitting for Monday’s job — lands in the Civic log with the business purpose tagged.

When the IRS comes calling

A two-vehicle contractor audit is among the most common §274(d) examinations because the IRS knows mixed business-personal use is fertile ground. The examiner asks for both logs. The F-150 — with signage, tool storage, and a strong qualified nonpersonal use argument — is the easier vehicle to defend. The Civic, being a passenger car, is the one where Devon’s contemporaneous business-purpose tags matter most.

Persona 4: Priya, the mid-year vehicle replacement

Priya is a freelance graphic designer in Atlanta who travels constantly to client sites, print shops, and on-location photo shoots. In June 2026 a driver ran a red light and totaled her 2018 Subaru Outback. Insurance settled on July 1. On July 15 she bought a 2026 Toyota RAV4. Same Schedule C business, same tax year, two vehicles in sequence.

The numbers: Subaru, January 1 through June 15, 8,200 business miles; RAV4, July 15 through December 31, 7,400 business miles. Both vehicles on standard mileage; combined Line 9 deduction at the 2026 rate of 72.5¢:

Schedule C Part IV for two vehicles in one year

Both vehicles appear in Part IV. The Subaru: placed in service when Priya first used it for business (some year before 2026), disposal date June 15, 2026. The RAV4: placed in service July 15, 2026. Each vehicle gets its own Part IV worksheet attached per the Schedule C instructions. Each shows its own business, commuting, and other miles for the partial year. Each answers the evidence questions on Lines 47a and 47b separately. The Schedule C Vehicle Expenses Walkthrough shows the line-by-line mechanics.

The disposal mechanics

This is the part most drivers miss. The Subaru was on standard mileage from year one. The depreciation component built into the standard mileage rate reduced the Subaru’s basis every year — Notice 2026-10’s schedule applies retroactively for basis tracking (35¢ for 2026, 33¢ for 2025, 30¢ for 2024, 28¢ for 2023, 26¢ for 2022, and earlier years per their respective notices). Priya’s adjusted basis on the disposal date is original cost less accumulated depreciation across all years of business use.

If the insurance settlement exceeded adjusted basis on the business-use portion, the gain up to total depreciation taken is §1245 ordinary income recapture. If the settlement was less than adjusted basis, the business-use portion of the loss is deductible. Either way, the disposal is reported on Form 4797 (Sales of Business Property), not directly on Schedule C. The §1031 like-kind exchange route is unavailable — since the TCJA, §1031 applies only to real property, not vehicles.

If Priya wanted to defer gain by reinvesting in the replacement vehicle, the §1033 involuntary conversion election would be the route (the Subaru was destroyed in an accident, which qualifies). She would have to make the election on a timely-filed return, and the replacement RAV4 has to be similar or related in service or use.

The RAV4’s year-one election

Priya elected standard mileage on the RAV4 for 2026. This preserves her option to switch to actual expenses in any later year (the reverse switch is not allowed — once you start with actual expenses on a vehicle, you cannot move that vehicle to standard mileage later). See our Standard Mileage vs. Actual Expenses comparison for the year-one decision frame. The election lock under Rev. Proc. 2019-46 is one-way and per vehicle.

Bluetooth, CarPlay, and the seamless transition

The Subaru was paired to Priya’s phone via Bluetooth audio. From January through mid-June, every trip auto-tagged to the Subaru log. After the accident, no more pairing — no more accidental misclassification. Starting July 15, the RAV4 pairs via CarPlay, and trips auto-tag to the RAV4 profile. The historical Subaru records remain in EveryLastMile’s cloud, exportable at any time during the §6501 record retention window. When Priya files her 2026 return in April 2027, she keeps Subaru records through April 2030 in the ordinary case, or April 2033 if there is a six-year substantial-understatement question.

What the export to her tax preparer looks like

Priya hands her CPA a single VIN-tagged annual report. It shows Subaru: 8,200 business miles January through June 15, with placed-in-service and disposal dates. It shows RAV4: 7,400 business miles July 15 through December 31, with placed-in-service date. The Form 4797 supporting calculation for the Subaru disposal is on a second page. Her CPA fills Part IV for both vehicles, attaches the second-vehicle statement, and the math reconciles to Line 9 on the nose.

The five common multi-vehicle mistakes

1. Bucket recording. Tracking miles in one combined log without per-vehicle attribution. This fails Schedule C Part IV and Form 4562 Part V Section B requirements outright. The 2023 Craddock summary opinion is the modern poster child — the F-150 log did not separate business from personal miles by vehicle, and the entire deduction was disallowed.

2. Method-election confusion. Drivers assume that taking §179 on Vehicle A locks Vehicle B out of standard mileage. It does not. Rev. Proc. 2019-46’s election lockout is per vehicle. Taking §179 on the heavy truck does nothing to the standard mileage you can claim on a separate passenger car used for the same business.

3. Misallocating commuting miles between vehicles. Schedule C Part IV asks for commuting miles separately at Line 44b. Commuting is not deductible under IRC §262 and Treas. Reg. §1.262-1(b)(5). If you have a fixed work site and use two vehicles, you have to track which one carried you to and from work each day. Defaulting all commuting to the less-used vehicle to inflate the more-used vehicle’s business percentage is an audit invitation.

4. Forgetting to update placed-in-service and disposal dates. When one vehicle replaces another mid-year, Schedule C Part IV needs both vehicles listed with accurate placed-in-service dates and disposal dates. Form 4797 reports the disposal. Skipping these steps creates inconsistencies the IRS computers flag automatically. Add §1245 recapture surprises if depreciation was taken (including the depreciation built into standard mileage), and the result can be a balance due plus accuracy-related penalties under §6662(a).

5. Treating a spouse’s vehicle as a free deduction. Per Sara and Jack — business use of a spouse’s vehicle requires that the Schedule C taxpayer be the one driving the trip for the business activity and that the substantiation is documented contemporaneously in the Schedule C taxpayer’s records. Dunn v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2022-112, denied a deduction on a vehicle titled in the other spouse’s name and used by a related entity, both for ownership reasons and for §274(d) failure.

How EveryLastMile makes multi-vehicle tracking automatic

The product fit for multi-vehicle drivers is direct.

• Bluetooth device pairing. Every vehicle’s stereo broadcasts a unique Bluetooth device identifier when paired to your iPhone. EveryLastMile reads the ID, matches it to the per-vehicle profile you set up once, and auto-tags every trip to the right vehicle log. No manual switching. No “which car was that?” at tax time.
• CarPlay session detection. When CarPlay is active, EveryLastMile uses the session identifier as an independent vehicle-ID signal — more reliable than Bluetooth alone, especially when multiple devices in a household share Bluetooth profiles.
• Per-vehicle profiles in the app. Each profile stores VIN, make, model, year, GVWR (which triggers automated §179 eligibility checks), purchase date, placed-in-service date, and a business-use baseline.
• VIN-tagged exports. Annual exports produce one PDF cover sheet that mirrors Schedule C Part IV plus one CSV per vehicle with every trip’s date, route, miles, business purpose, and timestamp — the contemporaneous record the Tax Court has consistently required since Sanford v. Commissioner, 50 T.C. 823 (1968).
• Vehicle disposal handling. Mark the disposal date in the app and historical trip records stay accessible in the cloud through the §6501 statute of limitations window (three, six, or indefinitely longer if no return was filed).
• Manual override for loaners and borrowed vehicles. When you drive a rental, dealer loaner, or a friend’s car, EveryLastMile detects an unknown device and lets you assign the trip to a temporary-business or personal category — preventing accidental contamination of your primary vehicle logs.
• Privacy-first on-device design. All vehicle identification and trip data lives on the device. EveryLastMile never transmits Bluetooth pairing data, CarPlay session metadata, or trip routes to third parties.

Most mileage apps treat multi-vehicle as an afterthought — manual switching, missed switches, contaminated logs. The audit burden under §274(d) is per vehicle, and the automation has to be too.

The bottom line

The IRS does not care how many vehicles you drive — it cares that each one carries its own placed-in-service date, its own method election, its own §274(d) trip log, and its own line in Schedule C Part IV. Drivers who lose multi-vehicle audits almost always lose them the same way: one combined spreadsheet, no per-VIN attribution, and a Tuesday afternoon supply run that nobody can confidently assign to the right truck twelve months later.

The substantiation rule is per vehicle, the method election is per vehicle, and the disposal mechanics are per vehicle. The automation has to be too. Bluetooth device IDs and CarPlay session IDs are the cleanest signal available to identify which vehicle is moving — they’re broadcast every time you start the car, and they don’t need GPS or a manual tap to be useful. That’s the part EveryLastMile automates. The rest is your business.

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim standard mileage on one vehicle and actual expenses on another in the same business?

Yes. Rev. Proc. 2019-46's election lockout is per vehicle. Each vehicle is evaluated independently for the year-one method choice and the subsequent lockout. Your sedan's method does not bind your truck.

How do I report two vehicles on Schedule C?

Complete Schedule C Part IV for the first vehicle and attach a statement with the same information for each additional vehicle, per the Schedule C instructions. If you claim depreciation or actual expenses on any vehicle, Form 4562 Part V Section B handles the per-vehicle mileage breakdown for that vehicle.

Do I file a separate Schedule C for each vehicle?

No. One Schedule C per business. Multiple vehicles go on that one Schedule C, supported by per-vehicle Part IV detail. The single car-and-truck deduction goes on Line 9; the per-vehicle backup goes in Part IV and Form 4562 Part V Section B.

Can I switch a vehicle from standard mileage to actual expenses?

Yes, but only on a vehicle where you used standard mileage in year one. Once you switch, you must use straight-line depreciation over the remaining estimated useful life under Rev. Proc. 2019-46. You cannot move the reverse direction — actual expenses in year one locks the vehicle out of standard mileage forever.

What if I use my spouse's car for business occasionally?

Document the trips you drive for your business. Keep contemporaneous records of date, miles, destination, and business purpose. Be prepared to address ownership — deductions on vehicles you do not own are harder to defend (see Dunn v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2022-112). Standard mileage at 72.5¢ per mile on your business use of the spouse's car is the cleanest path.

How do I handle a vehicle I sold mid-year?

Report partial-year mileage in Schedule C Part IV with placed-in-service and disposal dates. Report the disposal on Form 4797. If the vehicle was on standard mileage, calculate accumulated depreciation by multiplying business miles in each year by that year's depreciation component (35¢ for 2026, 33¢ for 2025, 30¢ for 2024, 28¢ for 2023, 26¢ for 2022, per Notice 2026-10). §1245 recaptures gain up to total depreciation as ordinary income.

Does claiming Section 179 on one vehicle prevent standard mileage on another?

No. The §179 election (and the resulting lifetime lockout from standard mileage) applies only to the specific vehicle for which §179 was claimed. Other vehicles on the same Schedule C are unaffected.

What if I drove a rental car for business?

Rental car expenses are deductible on Schedule C as a separate car-and-truck or travel expense (depending on context and whether it was an overnight business trip). The rental is not an owned vehicle, so it does not get its own Part IV line. Keep the rental agreement, receipt, and business-purpose documentation.

How do I split mileage between two vehicles I use for the same business?

By contemporaneous record. The most reliable method is automatic per-vehicle detection via Bluetooth or CarPlay, which tags each trip to the right vehicle the moment it starts. Manual splitting after the fact ("I think I used the truck about 60% of the time") will not satisfy §274(d).

Can I deduct miles for both vehicles on the same trip?

Only if both vehicles physically traveled deductible business miles. If you dropped Vehicle A at the shop and drove Vehicle B home, the Vehicle A trip from the shop is in A's log; the Vehicle B trip home is in B's log. The two log entries are separate.

What records does the IRS want for multi-vehicle Schedule C claims?

Contemporaneous logs showing the four §274(d) elements per trip (amount/miles, time, place, business purpose), tagged to the specific vehicle used. Plus the documents that support placed-in-service date, basis, business-use percentage, and (for actual-expense vehicles) operating expense receipts. Treas. Reg. §1.274-5T(c) governs the form.

How long do I keep records after I sell a business vehicle?

At least three years from the date you file the return that includes the disposal — IRC §6501(a). Six years for substantial understatement under §6501(e). Indefinitely if no return was filed or the return was fraudulent. EveryLastMile's cloud archive preserves trip records, vehicle profiles, and exports through whichever window applies.