Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Citing gas prices, IRS hikes mileage to 58.5 cents

The Internal Revenue Service has boosted its optional standard mileage rates to 58.5 cents -- an eight-cent increase that Gannett won't even come close to matching. "I've always told myself that it would be undignified to accept a mileage rate less than half the standard rate,'' a reader told me. "Now that the IRS has increased its rate, I must now decide how principled I really am."

Taxpayers may use the rate to calculate deductible costs of operating a car for business and other purposes. "Rising gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans," IRS chief Doug Shulman said. "Given the increase in prices, the IRS is adjusting the standard mileage rates to better reflect the real cost of operating an automobile. We want the reimbursement rate to be fair to taxpayers."

Earlier: Publishers getting free gas from company pump? and Blogger says new Cincy mileage rate 'immoral'

What's your mileage reimbursement rate? When's the last time it went up -- and by how much? Leave a note, in the comments section, below. Or use this link to e-mail your reply; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.

29 comments:

  1. The IRS rate is exactly double paid at Springfield: 29 cents. And that was a recent raise from 27 cents!

    Everyone should post their mileage allowance rate to see how Gannett squeezes employees to pay their own way to cover news.

    It's sickening.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Courier-Post just raised the mileage reimbursement from 25 cents to 30 cents per mile!!! How generous they are. I suppose they feel that by subsidizing the business expenses of Gannett, employees will feel as if they are "invested" in the business. What a load of (excuse the appropriate expression) "poop."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Montgomery: 23 cents per mile

    ReplyDelete
  4. corporate is still 21 cents per mile.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Burlington: 30 cents per mile.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Around the first of June we went up to $0.31 from $0.28 per mile.

    Nashville, TN
    The Tennessean, Every Day Matters

    We sing that every day cause we're soooo happy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Florida Today is currently 0.31 or 0.32 per mile. Reimburstment is based on average price of regular unleaded on the 1st of the month.

    ReplyDelete
  8. These numbers are really pathetic. Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sheboygan .29. A huge "concession" two years ago from .28.

    ReplyDelete
  10. .23 cents/mile
    Nobody here remembers the last time it increased.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well, USA TODAY floats its rate monthly with the price of gas. After all these low numbers quoted above I would hate to say how good we have it. At least it is fair - for now.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Palm Springs - 35 cents per mile.

    And it hasn't been changed since the days when gas was about $2 a gallon.

    ReplyDelete
  13. About 3 years ago, Poughkeepsie raised the mileage to 30 cents.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Phoenix now: .28 per mile.
    Phoenix then (2001) .255 per mile
    gas now: 4.15 per gallon
    gas then: 1.25 per gallon

    ReplyDelete
  15. Just today, two of my journalist friends who are still pounding away for Gannett papers, informed me, because they're getting rooked so badly on mileage, that they have taken to writing more "phoners."

    Can't blame 'em, but it is too bad that a reporter is faced to pull up short and make a few phone calls rather than go report in person because the company they work for is tighter than a frog's ass.

    Yesiree, penny wise and pound foolery strikes again at GCI.

    Shocker.

    ReplyDelete
  16. When I worked for KR we were paid 42 cents per mile. They also gave us car wash vouchers a few times per year. Nice huh?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Corporate is $0.75 Not too shabby for us.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Just today, Wilmington went from 29 to 33 cents.

    ReplyDelete
  19. @10:02 - nice try - corporate is still at .21

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wilmington and Cherry Hill just increased their mileage reimbursement rates, according to comments above.

    Is it because their publishers read their own papers, or because of what was reported on the front page of Gannett Blog?

    "...an eight-cent increase that Gannett won't even come close to matching," says Jim.

    While Gannett may not have caught up across the board, the Cherry Hill increase of 5 cents is almost close to matching. Perhaps the publisher saw the gauntlet was thrown and knew that 5 cents was better than four?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anon@9:35 if you made 42 cents a mile in the past, I hope you reported some of that as income. It is called a "standard rate" is because any reimbursement up to that amount is not income. The standard rate is till $.405 through the end of June.

    ReplyDelete
  22. gasoline fighter: don't think you're right. The IRS rate is the standard rate. Anything above that is income.

    ReplyDelete
  23. anon@ 8:01 a.m.: "up to that amount is not income" agrees very much with "anything above that is income."

    (permissible, non-income reimbursement) <= (standard mileage rate) < (reimbursement rates at which some income must be reported)

    If anon@9:35 made 42 cents a mile in the U.S. sometime in the past, s/he would have done so at a time when the standard mileage rate was lower than 42 cents. It's $.405 now and becomes $.485 July 1.

    ReplyDelete
  24. And to add insult to injury in Phoenix.

    A memo went out, parking fees will only be reimbursed with submission of a receipt. No exceptions. Park at a meter and you will not be reimbursed for your parking. Meters downtown are .01 per minute, (more around Ariz State Univ in Tempe) so you can easily spend $4 or $5 if you're stuck for a while (like in court).

    ReplyDelete
  25. Perhaps they don't need court stories covered in Phoenix.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Wow. I thought in Fort Collins we were bad at 33 cents per mile, but after seeing some of these comments, I feel like I've hit the Gannett lottery.

    Our "gas crews" check the prices the beginning of each week and adjust the rate based on the AAA average price for our area, so as prices go up, so does our reimbursement rates.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I heard corporate has decided to not reimburse for gas anymore, they are just going to buy all the corporate bloodsuckers new Mercedes, just like Craig Dubows!!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Asheville clocks in at 30 cents a mile, a rate raised from 26 cents a mile about three weeks ago.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Greenville at 27 cents per mile. I don't count on them going up anytime again within the next 4 years (at least that's how often they appear to be looking at it anyways)

    ReplyDelete

Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.