Commute vs business miles

[ingin03]

I drive 60 miles out of state for work ( 120 daily). Have a regular W-2 from my employer who hired me as a temporary contractor. Would my mileage be considered a business or commuter mileage.

[DS30 · Accepted solution]

It depends. Commuting miles are considered personal use miles and are not deductible. Business miles can be deductible if you are an employee (as a job-related expense, if you itemize and are subject to a 2% AGI limitation) or if you are self-employed (as a business use of your vehicle)

For someone who is considered an employee:

No - If you are an employee and this is your regular place of work as a temporary employee, then this would be commuting miles and not deductible.

Yes - If you are an employee and this is a temporary work location.   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 distance.

Please refer to this IRS link for more information about Transportation Costs

If you have any deductible business mileages as an employee, you can report your business miles as an employee under job-related expenses:

You would enter your unreimbursed employment expenses under Federal Taxes>Deductions and Credits> I'll choose what I work on (or jump to full list)> scroll down to Employment Expenses> Job-related expenses (start/update). Use the TurboTax guide to help you enter these expense.

• Say "yes" to question "Did you have any of these expenses in 2015 for your W-2 income?" under the screen titled "Employment Expenses Related to a W-2".
• after about 6 to 10 question screens, you will get to a screen titled "Job-Related Expenses" you can put this information here. List as "additional unreimbursed business miles" (screenshot #1)

For someone who is considered self-employed:

Yes - If you are self-employed contractor, you can claim a deduction for miles driven to a job assignment. The starting point must be a home, an office or a job location, and the destination must also be a home, an office or a job location. You cannot deduct miles driven for other reasons even if you drove the same vehicle. The IRS requires you to take relatively straight routes from one location to another

To deduct business miles for self-employed in TurboTax Online or Desktop, please follow these steps:

1. Once you are in your tax return, click on the “Business"” tab
2. Next click on “I’ll choose what I work on” (jump to full list)
3. Scroll down the screen until to come to the section “Business Income and Expense”
4. Choose “Profit or Loss from Business ” and select start/revisit/update.
5. If your business is already listed, choose to "edit"
6. You will eventually get to a screen titled "Your () Business"
7. Scroll down to Business Expenses and select "Business Vehicle Expense". (screenshot #2)

[DS30]

Please see updated answer.

[DaveC1]

Thanks for your response.  I am helping a friend that is working as a contractor and receiving a 1099 Misc from his "employer".   He travels to this "employer" every day.  Would miles from his house to the workplace be considered a commute or business miles?  If business miles, would he need to have a "home office"?  Thanks in advance for any insights.  If you could reference an IRS document, that would be very helpful...Best Regards, Dave

[CatinaT1]

If he is self employed and does not have an office in his home, the miles would be commuting.  If he has a home office he uses regularly and exclusively, then he would be able to count the miles as business.

This IRS publication should provide you more information:  https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463