If you're
self-employed, your deductible miles depend on where your self-employed
business is located. If you maintain an office at home, all your miles are
typically deductible from your "office" to anyplace business related. You have no commuting in this instance.
If you operate your
business from somewhere other than your home, you can't deduct the miles you
drive from home to your first business-related stop. They are commuting miles and therefore, not
deductible. Of course, you can deduct driving costs from your business location
to the bank, a client's office, etc.
Here's some info about having a home office for your self-employed business:
The home office
deduction lets you deduct things like rent, mortgage interest, insurance, utilities,
repairs, and depreciation for the portion of your home used for business. It's
available to homeowners and renters alike.
You may be able to
claim the home office deduction if your office is used regularly
and exclusively for your business and
is your principal
place of business.
When you enter your
home office information in TurboTax, we'll determine if you can claim the
deduction and how much the deduction is worth.
This doesn't
necessarily mean that the majority of your business activities need to take
place in your home office.
What it means is
that you use your home office regularly
and exclusively to administer or manage your business, and that
substantial administration or management activities for your business are not
conducted at any other fixed location.
Here's an example:
Larry just started a new consulting business, and has set aside a spare bedroom
as his office which he only uses for business purposes. Currently about 85% of
his time is spent outside the home, meeting potential clients in various restaurants
and coffee shops. However, he does all his scheduling, planning, bookkeeping,
etc. from his home office. These administrative and managerial activities
qualify his home office as his principal place of business, even though he's
spending the majority of his time outside of his home office.
