Accounting News and Notes

The IRS just announced that the optional mileage rates effective July 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008 is 58.5 cents per mile. This was done in response to Soaring Gas Prices which we have seen throughout the past twelve months. This is an increase of eight cents per mile which was in force for the first six months of the year. Rates are generally adjusted just once annually but this special adjustment was done in recognition of the rising prices we pay at the pump.

“Rising gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans. Given the increase in prices, the IRS is adjusting the standard mileage rates to better reflect the real cost of operating an automobile,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. “We want the reimbursement rate to be fair to taxpayers.”

As gas cost are a larger component of gas prices this change was required to keep pace of the higher cost of gas causing the increased cost of operating and maintaining a vehicle for business use. The federal government is starting to realize the severity of this issue and is beginning to take steps to make the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil. Stay tuned for more information.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Corporate Income Taxes, Tax News...For Georgia and Nationally/the IRS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.