If you don’t track the miles you drive to work, you are losing money. Period. Any self-employed person can deduct up to $ 0.585 per mile from their annual taxes for qualifying miles, and trust us, it adds up.

Think of it this way: for every 100 miles, you can deduct $ 58.50. And if you’ve ever filed your tax return as a freelancer or self-employed person, you know these self-employment taxes are deadly.

The trick is to remember to write down those miles. It can be difficult to remember to record your mileage at the beginning of each day, and then it can be even more difficult to subtract the end and start miles and add those numbers at the end of the year. To help you do this without the hassle, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best mileage tracking apps on the market.

Stride Tax ( download )

Stride lets you track your mileage with just one touch. Open the app and click Track My Miles. Press the button again when the ride is over. It automatically calculates the distance traveled, provides a map, and tells you how much you have saved under applicable tax laws.

You can also specify up to two different tasks: one specific and one “Other”. If you forget to start tracking your mileage, you can enter it manually later. You can also enter other expenses and even scan receipts to keep track of all expenses related to your business.

Stride lets you connect your bank account to the app so you can record business expenses automatically. The best part? Stride is absolutely free. The app is incredibly accurate in determining mileage, so you don’t need to worry about inaccuracies.

At the end of each week, Stride will send an email showing the total amount of your holdings for that week. And at the end of the year, just follow the directions and let Stride prepare the IRS form for you. Stride can automatically import into various tax programs including H&R Block online.

MileIQ ( download )

MileIQ is manufactured by Microsoft, but that doesn’t mean you can only use it on Microsoft platforms. MileIQ runs in the cloud, so you can access your account via smartphone, tablet, internet, and from your computer.

This allows you to print reports, categorize any of your trips, and customize every detail of every mile traveled. The downside is that MileIQ is not free – it costs $ 5.99 per month or $ 59.99 per year. There is a free version, but it only burns 40 discs per month. On the other hand, if you have a Microsoft Office 365 Business subscription, MileIQ is free.

Unlike Stride, you do not need to start and stop recording the distance traveled with MileIQ. The app records every mile you drive, and all you have to do is determine if the trip was personal or business. The app sends out a weekly mileage report and gives you push notifications that remind you of the classification of possible retentions.

Everlance ( Download. )

Everlance is designed for both companies and individual entrepreneurs. Like MileIQ, this is a paid app. You get 30 free rides per month, after which you will need to sign up for Everlance Premium to record more rides – $ 8 per month or $ 60 per year.

The good news is you can give it a 7-day free trial to see if the premium features (including auto tracking, advanced reporting, and bank integration) are worth it. And, as the company notes, the costs pay off after one big trip.

Everlance allows you to manually add mileage, list non-mileage expenses, and even add income that you might not get 1099 for. One cool feature is that you can select two locations and find out the value between those two points.

If you link your bank to your Everlance account, you can track your transactions and categorize them by swiping right for work and left for personal. At the end of the year, Everlance will issue an IRS-compliant report, making it easier to report your annual mileage.

Why an application?

You may prefer pencil and paper to track your miles. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that – in fact, we use an app and a notepad and then compare them at the end of the day to check for accuracy.

But the app simplifies the whole process and allows you to get more accurate information than what the odometer shows. The added benefits of expense tracking and automated reporting are also a big plus.

If you decide to use one of the paid versions, remember that the annual cost of using the application is also a tax deduction. When you’re self-employed, every deduction you can find matters.

Use one of these apps to make sure you are recording your miles correctly and can provide proof that you have actually driven those miles. You know, just in case the IRS needs a check.

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