Can i claim business mileage to and from a 'home office' if i am not paying rent? I am obviously not claiming for the home office, but unsure how to count mileage.

[beaumont_1985]

I work in youth sports. My role combines coaching on the field with admin tasks in the running of the club I work with - website management, club communications, setting up programs, etc and as such I spend most of the day working from 'home' before traveling to field sessions in the evening and weekends. I don't however pay rent where i am living and thus don't claim a home office deduction. If i was paying rent on a place myself, i would likely have a separate area set up and consider that a principle place of business, and therefore feel i could claim my journeys too and from field sessions as mileage. Though please correct me if that's wrong. 

Since I am using 'home' for my day time hours, can i still treat it the same as the above example and claim those business miles? Or would they simply be my commute since i cant claim a home office? Most of my field hours are in one specific town, albeit it sometimes with travel between fields, do i have to claim my first and last trip as the commute even though i spent the day at home working too? 

What about if on a saturday i am not doing 'desk work' first and just go straight to the field for a game? is that a commute? 

Occasionally i do other on field work with other clubs or programs. Would a drive to a more random location for say a one off session be business mileage or a commute?

Thanks in advance for reading and any responses. 

[Carl]

You are losing a "lot" by not claiming a home office "IF" you qualify. Weather you own the home or rent the home doesn't matter.
Your commuting miles from your home, to the field (which is your "primary" place of employment) is not deductible. Weather you have a home office in that home or not, doesn't matter.

[beaumont_1985]

Think you misunderstood. I am not claiming for a home office, because although technically i use one, i do not have any expense associated with it. I don't pay rent, or own the home I'm staying in.

As for your second point, that is my question i guess. What determines which is the primary place of business? I spend hours a day working from home, and then travel to the fields. Could argue that either is a primary place of business no?

[DS30]

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, 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. Also if you go to your usual work location, then drive to another location (like a different playing field), you will be able to take business miles on the drive between the one field location to the other field location.

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)

[beaumont_1985]

Well, more specifically, the club i mostly work with hire me from my employer. So i am not an employee of the club i travel to, but they are paying for my services through my employer. Does that make a difference? My home is also about 2 miles from the head office of my employer, so what you are saying, would suggest that it would make sense for me to that office every day and then onto the fields i coach at which are about 10 miles away as i could then claim that 10 mile journey, whereas if i go straight there from home then i can't?

[DS30]

According to the IRS concerning business miles and commuting mile, if you travel to a place where you regularly work (whether it is your office or a playing field), these will be considered commuting miles and not deductible. However, if you travel to your regular office or field, then travel to a non-regular location (another playing field), that separate travel would be considered business miles. Also if you travel from your home directly to a non-regular location, those would also be considered business miles.

[beaumont_1985]

understood.. however does it make a difference that i have worked in both of those 'regular locations' in the same day? If i drove to my company office and worked for the morning, and then drove to the playing field is that then business mileage? Or because they are both 'regular' it doesnt matter than i travelled to/between both?

If so why is that different to me doing that work from home and then driving to the field? Not disagreeing with you, just hoping to some expert clarification!

[DS30]

Think of it this way. If you are driving to a location where you regularly work (office or playing field), then these are commuting miles and are not deductible. If you drive to a temporary (or non-regular) work location, then these are business miles (whether or not you drive there from your home, office or regular playing field).

So if you drive to your office then 10 miles to a temporary playing field location then back to office, you have 20 business miles (10 each way from office to temporary location and back to office). If you drive from your home 8 miles to a temporary playing field location then back to home,  you have 16 business miles for the round -trip. If you drive from home to office then to a temporary work location (10 miles) then home (8 miles), you will be able to deduct 18 miles (the travel to office from your home is considered commuting miles).