Line 11 on Form 2106 asks for one piece of information: the date you first placed your vehicle in service for business use. It sits at the top of Part II, Section A (General Information), and it is not a dollar amount or a deduction total.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2106 If you came here looking for the final deduction figure that flows to your return, that is Line 10 in Part I, not Line 11.
What Line 11 Is Asking For
The “date placed in service” is the day you first started using the vehicle for your work. For a car you bought new and drove to a job site the same week, that date is straightforward. For a vehicle you already owned and used personally before converting it to business use, the placed-in-service date is the day the business use began, not the day you bought the car.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2106
Enter the date in month/day/year format. One date, one vehicle. If you used more than one vehicle for work during the year, Form 2106 gives you columns for a second vehicle, each with its own Line 11.
Why the Date Matters
Two things turn on this date.
First, if you use the actual expense method and depreciate the vehicle, the placed-in-service date sets the start of your depreciation schedule. The year and even the quarter of that date affect which depreciation convention applies and how much you can write off in year one.
Second, the date affects whether you can use the standard mileage rate at all. The IRS allows the standard mileage rate (70 cents per mile for 2026) only if you choose it in the first year the vehicle is placed in service for business. If you used actual expenses the first year, you are generally locked out of switching to the standard rate for that vehicle later.2Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile Line 11 is where you anchor “first year.”
Where Line 11 Fits in Part II
Section A collects the basic facts the rest of Part II needs. After the Line 11 date, you fill in:
- Line 12: total miles the vehicle was driven during the year.
- Line 13: business miles.
- Line 14: business-use percentage (Line 13 divided by Line 12).
- Line 15: average daily commuting distance.
- Line 16: total commuting miles for the year.
From there you move to Section B if you are using the standard mileage rate, or Section C if you are claiming actual expenses. You cannot use both methods for the same vehicle in the same year. Section D handles depreciation for anyone who went the actual expense route.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2106
Whatever number comes out of Part II is the vehicle expense amount that feeds back into Part I, where it joins your other work expenses and reaches the Line 10 total that actually reduces your income.
Before You Fill Out Line 11, Confirm You Can File This Form
Most W-2 employees cannot use Form 2106 at all. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the deduction for miscellaneous itemized expenses, including unreimbursed employee business expenses, starting in 2018. That suspension was originally set to expire after 2025, but subsequent legislation made it permanent.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 67 – 2-Percent Floor on Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions
Four groups of workers remain eligible:
- Armed Forces reservists traveling more than 100 miles from home for reserve duties.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 3 – Armed Forces Tax Guide
- Qualified performing artists who meet all four eligibility tests in the instructions.
- Fee-basis state or local government officials.
- Employees with impairment-related work expenses.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2106
If you do not fall into one of these categories, the IRS instructions say not to file Form 2106, and the Line 11 question is moot for you.
Business Miles vs. Commuting Miles
Line 11 is about one date, but the lines right after it depend on a distinction the IRS treats strictly: commuting miles are never business miles. The drive between your home and your regular workplace does not count, no matter how long it is. Business miles start when you leave your regular workplace to go somewhere else for work, or when you travel from home to a temporary work location.
Reservists have an added rule layered on top: only trips more than 100 miles from home for reserve duties qualify for the above-the-line deduction on Schedule 1.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 3 – Armed Forces Tax Guide Shorter reserve trips, even if they were genuinely for duty, do not.
Recordkeeping That Backs Up Your Vehicle Entries
If you are claiming vehicle expenses, keep a mileage log that records the date, starting point, destination, business purpose, and miles driven for each trip. The IRS expects these entries to be contemporaneous, meaning written at or near the time of the trip rather than reconstructed during tax season. You also need odometer readings from the start and end of the tax year to establish your total annual mileage, which is what you put on Line 12.5Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463 – Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
For the Line 11 date itself, keep whatever documents establish when business use began: a purchase or lease agreement, the first mileage log entry, or a dated expense record tied to a work trip. If the vehicle was personal first and converted later, a note in your records explaining the conversion date is worth keeping.
Hold onto receipts, logs, and supporting documents for at least three years from the date you file the return claiming the deduction. If you underreported income by more than 25%, the IRS has six years to audit, so keeping records longer is worth the peace of mind.
Common Mistakes Around Line 11 and Part II
A few errors show up again and again on this part of the form.
Using the purchase date instead of the business-use date. If you drove the car personally for two years before starting a job that required business travel, Line 11 is the start of the business use, not the day you bought it.
Treating the daily commute as business miles. The commute inflates Line 13 and the business-use percentage on Line 14, which almost always draws scrutiny if the numbers are checked against the odometer total.
Attempting to switch methods after the first year. If you did not pick the standard mileage rate the year the vehicle was placed in service, you generally cannot switch to it later for that vehicle. Line 11 is the reference point the IRS uses to apply that rule.2Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile
Leaving Line 11 blank. Even if the rest of Part II is complete, a missing placed-in-service date can hold up processing of your vehicle deduction. Enter the date, confirm it matches your records, and the rest of Section A follows.