Should my car be on my business name?

I haven't seen any answers to this yet, so I'll pitch in.

You didn't mention what is probably a key point: how is the business organized? Is it a sole proprietorship, a corporation (and what kind), a partnership (and what kind)?

You should look at

(Tax Guide for Small Business), which I easily found by searching "business use of personal car" (without quotes) at At a quick perusal, I saw no requirement to put the car or the insurance in the name of the business. I'm sure there was no such requirement for all the years I operated a sole proprietorship.

You do need to keep meticulous records, to document business versus personal use of the car. Since you have to keep the records anyway, you might think about just using the standard mileage rate (53.5 cents a mile, in 2017). That's much easier than figuring depreciation and allocating that as well as insurance and other costs. Plus, you don't have to worry about recapture of depreciation when you sell or trade in the car.

Hey, Stan, you might want to reconsider "Plus, you don't have to worry about recapture of depreciation when you sell or trade in the car."

IIRC, 23 cents per mile was the adjustment (reduction) to the car's tax basis for each mile of business use claimed with the standard mileage rate, which would certainly be subject to depreciation recapture, *and also* effective 01-01-18 there's no more "tax-free" trade-in of the old business car for a new one.

Are you sure about that? If you deducted the car (or the business portion of it) under section 179, sure. But depreciation happens while you own it, and if you later sell it the past depreciation doesn't un-happen. You get less money for the car than you would if it was newer, and the "less money"--the depreciation--is allocated between business and personal use.

Can you give me a citation? I didn't read Pub 334 cover to cover, but in a quick perusal I didn't find any indication that any part of the standard mileage rate was subject to recapture.

Look at Pub 463 page 24. It also shows you the table that contains the standard mileage rate for depreciation by year since 2000.

"> > Can you give me a citation?" Asks Stan.

See the first paragraph of "Disposition of a Car" on Page 24 at this cite:

Thanks, Alan.

Thanks, Alan. Your point is well taken, and I read that page the same way you do. So I've learned something. Probably there was a reference from Pub 334 to Pub 463 that I missed.