- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
Deductions & credits
There is never a deduction for regular commuting, at the federal level or any state I know of, for employees or self-employed.
Your commute is your daily drive to and from your main place of work. That is never deductible, even if it is long an expensive, it's your choice to work at that location so it's just ordinary non-deductible living expenses.
If you drive to other locations for temporary work, that used to be deductible but is not deductible any more at the federal level for W-2 employees. You can still enter the deduction in Turbotax because some states will allow the deduction in some situation. Turbotax will apply the deduction if you qualify and would benefit, but there are other limitations. It should be on the Deductions and Credits page under work-related expenses. You need to have accurate mileage records of your work trips such as a log with the date, time, mileage, and business purpose. You can't include your commute. A detailed list of rules is found in chapter 4 of publication 463.
https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-463
If you are self-employed, you still can't deduct your commute to and from your main place of work. You can deduct mileage for trips to other, temporary work sites. In some cases, your home may be your "main place of work" and you can deduct most work mileage. This is also discussed in chapter 4. This deduction would be under car expenses in the Self-employment-Schedule C interview.