"Taegu" <taegu2[at]aol.com> wrote:

- quote -

First - how is the vehicle titled? If it is titled to your
business you need business insurance. If it is titled to
you personally, you likely will not need business insurance.
Your post doesn't say for certain either way, but I have
inferred from your statement "not directly required by my
employer" to indicate that you are employee of a company you
do not own.

Many employees drive their personal vehicles for business
related events like errands and travel to temp work
locations. Frankly, I'd be surprised if you owned the
vehicle personally and had to have business insurance -
unless of course it truly is a work vehicle like a dump
truck. Most such situations are best covered using an
accountable reimbursement plan which allows you to submit an
expense report for the mileage you drive and get reimbursed
- deductible by the employer and not even reportable as
income by the employee.

If the vehicle is titled to your business, and not you
personally, and you drive it for personal purposes, like
commuting, you need to include in income the value of the
personal use portion of the vehicle.

I am a bit curious though - why would your accountant
suggest you buy a car for business if you are an employee
and not a business owner?

Gene E. Utterback, EA

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Sorry about the other truncated post. Anyway here is how it
should have been read. After consulting with my
accountant,I recently purchased a vehicle for my business
use. Probably the major business use will be for
travelling to distant locations for my training and
education related to my work. It is possible however that
the car could be used occasionally for travel to a distant
jobsite.When I called my insurance company to inform them of
the purchase, I was asked whether it was for pleasure or
business. I should point out that these trips and education
are for my professional development, and while directly
related to my occupation, are not directly required by my
employer. These trips are purely voluntary for me, and
indeed are enjoyable to me. Further these trips will be
done on my own time, probably almost always on weekends. I
told the insurance agent that most use of the car would be
for weekend use, and for travel for educational seminars in
distant cities, and she said she considered this pleasure.
So do any of the experts think that this could pose a
problem for me with the insurance company, or the IRS, since
the insurance for the car will be paid as a business expense
(which my accountant said was fine). If the occassional
travel to distant jobsites is an issue, I could eliminate
this use.

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