It depends. As a trade show vendor, you are self employed and can indeed get the deduction if you have a home office, or a regular place of business from which you will be traveling from. You should also have the following as evidence
to prove your mileage claim.
Date of trip
Destination
Business Purpose of
trip
Miles for trip
Odometer readings
(before you begin the trip and at the end)
For more information
see Turbo Tax article; Taking
Business Tax Deductions, the passage below is an excerpt from the article
Automobiles
As a small business
owner, you can deduct automobile expenses for visits to clients, customers or
travel to business meetings away from your regular workplace. If you have a
home office, a drive from your home to a supplier and back home again is a 100
percent deductible business expense.
When figuring
expenses, you may choose between taking the standard mileage rate (which
generally changes every six months to a year), or deducting your actual
expenses for items such as gas, oil changes, tires, repairs, preventive
maintenance, insurance and registration. If you choose to deduct your actual
expenses in the year you start using your car for business, you can't switch to
the standard mileage rate later. If you choose the standard mileage method
first, you can switch to actual expenses in a later year.
In choosing the
method that yields the higher deduction, the number of miles you drive each
year is probably the most important factor. If you do a lot of driving, then
the standard mileage rate method may work better for you. However, automobiles
that consume more gas may let you claim a higher deduction using the actual
expense method. If you decide to deduct your actual expenses, you must keep a
log of your trips noting the date, the miles driven, and the purpose of each
trip. Try to log your trips as they occur, when it's easier to keep track of
the details. Keep a record of your gas purchases, insurance and registration
payments, and repairs and maintenance costs. If the IRS ever audits you, you
will need to provide written documentation to substantiate your deduction. If you're
self-employed, you can also deduct the business part of interest on your car
loan, state and local property taxes, parking fees and tolls, even if you claim
the standard mileage rate.
Also, if you review IRS Publication linked
here, you will find a sample of the log at the end of the publication. This should help guide you as to what you
will need to prove mileage. For more
information, please read the following article on Business
Use of Vehicles.
