track mileage allowance and cash withheld for tax, how to?

[Mike or Penny Novack]

>
> What type of account and procedure is recommended to track mileage 
> allowance?

Might I make a suggesting depending on your answer to the following 
questions:

 Do you itemize your personal tax return? If yes;
1) Do you have mileage for medical reasons?
2) Do you have mileage for non-profit reasons?

See what I am getting at? If you are answering "yes" you are going to 
want to have a mileage recording system that isn't necessarily related 
to expenses but where you need to know the accumulated mileage to 
compute deductions on the schedule A. In which case you could ALSO 
record your business mileage and use the accumulated figure for a one 
time entry to the gnucash books <<your business mileage may be 
chargeable as a business expense -- off the top of my hat I don't know 
what Uncle Sam allows for that the way I do for medical and charitable>>

I use a spreadsheet for keeping track of mileage (and tolls). Were I 
keeping personal books I would make a once a year adjustment entry to 
record these expenses as a deduction from vehicle expenses (moving that 
much of car expenses to medical and charitable). You can do the same 
sort of thing here. Just keep your car expenses during the year as if 
personal expenses and then make that once a year adjustment moving part 
to a business expense (by the total business mileage and the allowance 
per mile)

Michael D Novack