Can I claim ride sharing expenses are a deduction/expense when traveling to a second location for job-related duties? I go to housing court once a week for hearings.

[mr2sw22]

I always show up to my main office, which is a real estate management office, but once a week on Tuesday I have to go to court for hearings with termination/legal cases with residents.

Can I claim deductions for travel expenses (such as Uber or Lyft) to travel from my main office to court for job-related duties?

I also travel back to my main office after I’m done with court.

[NCperson]

@mr2sw22 

W-2 employee : no

1099-NEC contractor - yes 

[xmasbaby0]

You have not mentioned whether you are a W-2 employee or if you work as an independent contractor but your question is not being posted from the Self-Employed software so it appears more likely that you are a W-2 employee.

Sorry---W-2 employees cannot deduct job-related expenses on a federal return.  Job-related expenses were eliminated as a federal deduction for W-2 employees by the tax laws that changed for 2018 and beyond.  Your state tax laws might be different in AL, AR, CA, HI, MN, NY or PA.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4482873-which-federal-tax-deductions-have-been-suspended-by-tax-re...

If you are an independent contractor your commute to or from the office is not deductible but you may be able to put the mileage/expense to the second location during the workday  on the days you go to court on your Schedule C with your other business expenses.

[Opus 17]

If you are an independent contractor, whether or not you can deduct mileage depends on several factors, including the location of your "main place of work" and how many different work locations you travel to in the same day.  It's covered in chapter 4 of publication 463 and there is a handy diagram as well.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-463

Also, the old rules (including mileage deductions for W-2 employees) will be reinstated in 2026, unless Congress passes new tax law changes, so it will not hurt to know where to look up the rules in the event the deduction comes back.