Nanny Agency Jobs How-to / checklist

Agree which work journeys you will make in your own car, how reimbursement will be calculated and when you will submit the record. Keep ordinary commuting separate from driving requested during the job. The IRS mileage rate is an optional tax benchmark, not a universal rule requiring every family to reimburse every mile at that amount.

A useful arrangement connects the trip, the vehicle, the calculation and the payment. “We cover gas” leaves several of those questions unanswered. This guide concerns mileage records and reimbursement discussions; vehicle suitability, insurance and permission to transport children need their own checks.

Separate commuting from work journeys

Start with a normal day. Driving from your home to the family's regular workplace is different from collecting a child from school after your shift has started, driving to an approved activity and returning to the family home. List those journeys separately before discussing money.

IRS Publication 463 generally treats travel between home and a regular workplace as personal commuting for federal tax purposes. That tax distinction does not by itself settle an employer's reimbursement obligations or a particular agreement. Unusual arrangements, including temporary work locations and journeys beginning with an employer errand, deserve a specific question rather than a guess.

Ask how to record an empty return trip after a drop-off, a requested supply collection and a personal detour. Record what actually happened. A trip does not become personal simply because no child was in the car, and an entire route should not be labelled work mileage merely because one stop served the family.

Confirm the method and applicable rules

Get the reimbursement method in writing: a stated amount per approved mile, an explicitly identified IRS benchmark, or another documented method. If the agreement references the IRS rate, specify which rate and the date that controls it. Use the current IRS table for the period of the journey rather than copying a number from an old article. Rates can change within a year.

An agreement and applicable law are separate checks. State requirements may affect necessary work expenses. California's labor enforcement agency, for example, explains in its current wage-deductions guidance that employees are entitled to reimbursement for expenses or losses incurred directly through their work duties, citing Labor Code section 2802. That state-specific duty is a separate question from choosing a tax benchmark. It does not establish a nationwide reimbursement formula or determine the amount of your claim.

Ask the employer or payroll provider how the proposed arrangement meets the rules where you work. If the answer is disputed, take your agreement and records to the relevant labor agency or qualified adviser. Do not assume a tax deduction will replace reimbursement you have not received.

Make the driving arrangement specific

Use this original discussion checklist before regular driving starts:

  • Vehicle: Which journeys use your car, and which use a family vehicle?
  • Covered journeys: Identify school runs, activities, errands and necessary return legs; describe how uncertain trips will be reviewed.
  • Calculation: Record the method, rate source, effective date and any review process.
  • Other costs: Explain how parking, tolls and other approved expenses are submitted. Avoid counting the same cost twice.
  • Record and payment: Name the submission channel, usual submission day, reviewer and expected payment timing.
  • Changes: Decide who approves an added stop or a different vehicle and how corrections are recorded.

If the family provides the car, do not automatically apply your personal-car mileage arrangement to it. Clarify how you will recover fuel or parking you personally pay for. Keep expense amounts separate from working-time records: reimbursing a journey's cost does not answer how its time is paid.

Use a log that can be checked

Copyable log fields: Date; vehicle; start and end locations; work purpose; beginning and ending odometer readings or agreed measurement method; work miles; personal miles excluded; rate or method; separate receipt reference; submitted date; paid date; correction note.

Keep the record promptly, while you can explain the route. The IRS recordkeeping guidance in Publication 463 emphasizes timely records and the business purpose of expenses. This worksheet is an editorial organization tool, not a promise that a particular tax or payroll requirement is satisfied.

Fictional example: On October 20, Alex starts a school collection at the family home with an odometer reading of 42,310 miles. The return reading is 42,322, giving 12 work miles. An unrelated personal trip after work is excluded. Under a fictional agreed rate of $0.80 per mile, the mileage request is 12 × $0.80 = $9.60. A separately approved $3 parking receipt brings this example's request to $12.60. These numbers illustrate arithmetic, not a required or recommended rate.

Use private location labels that the reviewer can understand. A reimbursement record needs enough detail to identify a journey; it does not need a child's medical history, a photograph of the child or a publicly shared route map.

Close the loop on payment

Submit a short total with the underlying entries available. When paid, match the amount to the submitted period and mark it received. If the payment differs, identify the specific entry or rate in question before replacing the original record.

A clear correction request might say: “The October log includes 12 miles for the approved school collection. The payment appears to include eight. Could we compare the route record and confirm the adjustment?” Preserve the original, the correction and the eventual payment together. That makes the next review a check of facts rather than an attempt to reconstruct a month of driving.

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