Can I deduct 960 miles driven from home to motel & back for a 2 week work assignment?

[MelWetzger]

Hello,

Can I deduct 960 miles driven from my home to a motel & back for a 2 week work assignment (on Schedule C Line 9 under "Car and Truck Expenses") ?

I am just double-checking. I think the answer is "Yes." As an independent contractor, I drove from my home in my own car to a work assignment that lasted two weeks. The assignment was in a town 960 miles from my house. The company I was working for payed for lodging in an extended stay motel in the town.  I also used my own car to drive to different sites in the town where I was working and kept a record of that mileage. The company reimbursed me for mileage, but only 18 cents per mile. Under the last Federal guidelines for the last 6 months of 2022, the rate is 62.5 cents per mile, a difference of 44.5 cents per mile. I have records of the 960 miles out and back and also of the driving while in the town I worked.

In looking at IRS "Topic No. 511 Business Travel Expenses" (Last Reviewed or Updated: 06-Oct-2022) says: "Deductible travel expenses while away from home include, but aren't limited to, the costs of:
1. Travel by airplane, train, bus or car between your home and your business destination."

So I think I can deduct, as a Business Expense, the 960 miles x 62.5 cents ($600) from the Gross Income for the 2 weeks worth of work  (in Line 7 of Schedule C), correct? (My "Gross Income" includes the amount the company already reimbursed paid me for mileage at 18 cents per mile.)

Thank you.

Mel

[MelWetzger]

Sorry, a minor error: the town is 480 miles from my house, so the round trip is 960 miles.

Mel

[AmyC]

Yes, you can deduct all the miles and then enter reimbursement for the program to create the final vehicle expense. Don't forget about food, I prefer the GSA rates for ease in determining your meals and incidental expenses.

See: 

• Topic No. 511 Business Travel Expenses
• 2022-2023 Special Per Diem Rates - IRS
• Per Diem Rates - GSA

[MelWetzger]

Thanks Amy,

But I realized that I cannot actually deduct my miles, because I only worked for that 2 week period in 2022 (I am semi-retired) and I did not work near where I live. So the place I traveled to is my "Tax Home." More specifically, as  IRS Topic 511 Business Travel Expenses states:

"Generally, your tax home is the entire city or general area where your main place of business or work is
located, regardless of where you maintain your family home. For example, you live with your family in
Chicago but work in Milwaukee where you stay in a hotel and eat in restaurants. You return to Chicago every
weekend. You may not deduct any of your travel, meals or lodging in Milwaukee because that's your tax
home. Your travel on weekends to your family home in Chicago isn't for your work, so these expenses are
also not deductible. If you regularly work in more than one place, your tax home is the general area where
your main place of business or work is located."

Thanks again, however,

Mel

[MelWetzger]

I should be able, however, to deduct the mileage for the use of my car while working during the two week period (near my "Tax Home") at the 62.5 cents per mile rate.

IRS Topic 511 Business Travel Expenses states: "4. Using your car while at your business destination. You can deduct actual expenses or the standard mileage rate, as well as business-related tolls and parking fees. If you rent a car, you can deduct only the business-use portion for the expenses."

Thank you,

Mel

[DawnC]

Your tax home is the general area of your main place of business, employment, or post of duty, regardless of where you maintain your family home.   Your tax home is the place where you are permanently or indefinitely engaged to work as an employee or self-employed individual.   Do you have a home office/use your home address for your business?    Self-employed taxpayers, with no regular place of work, can deduct mileage to temporary work locations.   

Some people have workplaces that are divided among several places. In such cases, the IRS expects you to choose one as your work home based on several criteria:

• How much time you spend in each place.
• How much work you actually do in each place.
• How much money you make in each place.

Of these, the IRS says time spent in each place is the most important.   

If you work at home or travel to assignments directly from home, without a fixed workplace, your tax home may well be your actual home.   

If you have one or more regular work locations away from your home and you commute to a temporary work location in the same trade or business, you can deduct the expenses of the daily round-trip transportation between your home and the temporary location, regardless of the distance. If your employment at a work location is realistically expected to last (and does in fact last) for 1 year or less, the employment is temporary unless there are facts and circumstances that would indicate otherwise.

See chart (Figure B) and pages 12-13 from Publication 463.  

[Carl]

As an independent contractor, typically, commuting expenses from your residence to your primary place of employment are never deductible. If you do "in fact" have a primary place of employment such as office space you own or rent for everyday business away from your residence, then you may be able to claim mileage from that primary employment location, to the temporary work location.

If you claim a home office and that home office is your primary place of employment where you conduct a majority of your business for the year, then you may be able to deduct mileage for the temporary location.