Monday, December 6, 2010

Transportation Expense

Every year, 'round this time, we get a message from the Accounting folks something like the following (this year's message):

Effective January 1, 2011, the mileage reimbursement rate for the use of personal cars in conjunction with company business will be 51¢ per mile, up from the current 50¢.

The reimbursement rate supposedly covers all aspects of vehicle ownership - car payment, depreciation, insurance, maintenance... plus gas, of course.

No mention of reimbursement for riding my bicycle on company business.

If I could get 50¢/mile for my bike miles, it would've paid for the cost of the bike purchase a little over a year ago, plus all the expenses of operating the bike, and I'd still have several hundred dollars left over.

3 comments:

Bob T said...

Bikeboy, is your employer still reimbursing for bike commuting expenses?

Scott said...

I think you could make a strong case for bike transportation expenses. Tires typically run 2-4 cents/mile, but your fuel costs may not be cheap.

Studies have shown that junk food typically costs around $0.002 per calorie, while healthy food is around $0.018/cal. You burn about 30 calories/mile on a bike, costing you between 6 and 50 cents, depending on your eating habits.

Bikeboy said...

Bob T... I fully expect my employer to reimburse me. (11 months @ $20/month... I opted for a bus pass in January, due to my surgery the month before.)

Hmmm... Scott, I'd never really considered the cost of fuel! (Maybe I should submit grocery bills to my employer, for reimbursement!)

(-;