I live outside of the LA Metropolitan area and I am in the film industry, so whenever I travel for work, the location is different every time. Is it deductible?

[b16ryan]

Want to know if it’s considered commute or not. Always travel to LA, but the location is never the same. I go back home at the end of the day.

[MindyB]

It depends.  If you are a W-2 employee, the mileage is not deductible, because unreimbursed employee expenses are not allowed, through 2025 (see: Are Unreimbursed Employee Expenses Deductible?).  

If you are self-employed, vehicle expenses are deductible.  You can choose mileage or actual expenses. In order to claim vehicle expenses and mileage, you need to add a vehicle to your business; here are the steps in TurboTax Online:

1. Navigate to Federal > Wages & Income > Self-employment income and expenses
2. Edit your business 
3. Choose add expenses for this work
4. Choose Vehicle and Continue
5. Vehicle now appears in the list of expenses, choose the pencil icon to the right of vehicle expenses
6. Answer the interview questions about the vehicle, and enter the related expenses