Using my personal vehicle for company service calls??

my boss wants our computer repair company to be more "mobile". i have no problem doing some road work but he refuses to give us a vehicle. he had employees a few years ago that took the vehicle he provided and basically trashed it. now he wants us to use our own cars to go all over NJ to do work. on a side note, my fellow coworker had a minor fender bender on one of his jobs and he refused to pay for any of the repairs to the other car.

I hope you are taking good note of your mileage and they are reimbursing your for it. Here is the national IRS rate.
http://www.nationalbusiness.org/NBAWEB/N...

The best way to get the most correct answer is to call your local IRS office and explain the situation.

You can expect to be reimbursed for personal expenses incurred on the job. Keep a mileage log book. The federal rate for 2006 is 44.5 cents per mile.

If your boss does not reimburse you for mileage, you are entitled to deduct it on your tax return on your Schedule A when your expenses exceed 2% of your Adjusted Gross Income.

BUT MAINTAIN A RECORD OF YOUR MILEAGE!!!!! Hang on to it for three years after you have filed your taxes or you do not get the deduction.

He should pay for gas and tires and maybe oil changes but not for accidents...you have insurance to cover that

I had a boss who did this. One of the employees kept track of his mileage and asked the owner to reimburse him at 35 cents per mile. Your boss may be willing to do this.

Otherwise, all of your work-related expenses that you were not compensated for are tax deductible (including gas, repair costs, and, in some cases, your insurance). Although this may not do you much good unless you have enough deductions to do the itemized deduction option.

If you are unhappy with either of these, you can contact your state Department of Labor (http://www.state.nj.us/labor/) to inquire about any laws requiring your boss to reimburse for this. In most states, a contract worker is not reimbursed for this, but an employee is. NJ is an employment at will state, so you may not have any legal redress.

Good luck!

If you get into an accident on the job, your insurance company might not pay for it. Your boss's company have to at least cover for mileage but that often does not pay for the wear and tear and accidents.

I have seen this a lot on itinerant geek jobs and they are low-pay and the company expects you to drive all around town, call you on your cell and don't cover you when you get into an accident. Check with your local State Employment offices to see what your rights are. Employers like that also do not really care about the safety of their employees.

Watch out that you don't throw your back, bring a simple electrical safety tester to check the outlets. Once, I came across an outlet that had the hot and ground reversed! That would have been dangerous.

If the company doesn't provide a vehicle for the job then you should discuss this with your insurance broker and find out what the 'extra' work related rider would cost. The company would also be responsible for milage or fuel and repairs on a ratio to your own private use. You would have to keep records. Milage, time, upkeep and repairs would be the obvious ones.
It would be advantagous to write out a contract between you and the employer, taking all or as many contingencies into account.
Under no circumstances take your employer 's word as he has alredy broken trust with your coworker. Tell him you need the contract for insurance purposses.