Originally Posted by
Proudelitist
It opens up your company to great liability if the IRS finds out that the company was claiming mileage deductions on mileage payouts to people who were not legally entitled to them. It's a good way to get audited or worse.
I would fire any employee who engaged in this kind of abuse. And if they said "But what difference does it make? If it was true you would pay me " I would call the police.
I would never claim mileage on a rental and don't make a ton when I do use my car and get reimbursed because my vehicle requires premium, barely gets 25 mpg in the winter, my prior lead foot means my insurance is $110/month and German cars often have high early depreciation. So the reimbursement rate is not a profit center for me and thus I fly.
With that said, I think the majority of mileage is paid at the IRS rate as a guideline and not because it is being put on the 1040 as mileage. If I rented a car and claimed mileage instead, I'm not sure how my employer would react but I think they wouldn't care that much either way. For most of us, mileage is a pass through expense not put on anyone's 1040 as mileage. I'm a software architect and my company passes through my expenses to my clients who then expense it as a software purchase, vendor travel or even capitalize it. It never goes on anyone's 1040 as mileage. The amount paid is using the IRS amount as guidance not because they are required to.
The IRS amount is a guideline for most companies. If you are claiming it on your 1040 or your employer is, then the rule about it having to be your car applies. I just don't think that's the case for the majority of the people and barring an employer policy expressly prohibiting it, I don't think it would even be a CoC violation. And certainly the police would get a chuckle before they asked you to stop prank calling them.