I work as an independent contractor. I do my administrative work from home and visit clients in their homes. Can I deduct mileage to and from clients? Or just to clients?

[jdill67248]

For example, if I travel:

• Home to session 1 (30 miles)
• session 1 to session 2 (20 miles)
• session 2 to home (30 miles)

can I deduct all 3 of those trips? (I plan on using the standard mileage rate.)

I should note that I am not reimbursed for mileage through the agency I work with at all, but in certain cases where clients are far away I have been paid for "travel time" at my hourly rate.

Also, a related question... As far as record keeping goes, it is enough to have a log stating the date, client name, client location, and miles? Or do I need to also have the odometer reading before and after the trip recorded as well? I have kept a detailed log but lack the odometer reading and want to ensure that I can still use my log to claim the mileage deduction. Thank you for your help!

[NancyG]

If your home is truly the base of your business any miles from home will be business miles.  You should start adding odometer readings to your logs, especially at the beginning of each tax year. Since your home is your office location, you do not have any commuting miles.  If you track your business miles, the difference between your beginning of the year odometer reading and end of the year odometer reading less the business miles will be your personal miles.

[jdill67248]

Thank you for your quick response Nancy. Just to be clear, in my above example I would be able to deduct all 3 of the trips (the last trip, from client back home is the one I was unsure of).

[NancyG]

Yes

[Ashley4]

Do you need to have a home office deduction in order to deduct business miles?