Is this deductible?

[RickInFlorida]

I'm an independent contractor who drives cars from point A to point B for a transport company.  Can I deduct the cost of going from my home to the pick up point, whether it's gas in my car, Uber, bus, air, etc.? The pick up point could be five miles from home, or it could be 1,000 miles from home.  Same question for going from the delivery location back home.  

A lot of information about this on the internet talks about "driving from a home office" to determine deductibilty. I do not have a home office, I don't think.  I simply have a PC from which I access the company's data base to find drives.  I use the computer, desk, etc. mostly for personal things. Thanks.

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

The travel  to pick up the car in your locality ("Tax home") is non deductible commuting. The cost to get to an "out of town" location is deductible. So, in your example, the 5 mile pick up is not deductible, but the 1000 miles is. The IRS has no fixed mileage rule for what is out of town. Out of town is outside your metropolitan area. 

So, yes you do qualify for #2.

[RickInFlorida]

Thanks Hal Al.

[SweetieJean]

The time/money you spend getting from your home to your first pickup is considered commuting, and the expenses associated with commuting (standard mileage or actual expenses) are not deductible as a business expense. You cannot deduct commuting expense, no matter how far your home is from your place of work.

Since uou do not use the computer (and its desk) exclusively for work, you cannot deduct Home Office expenses.

[RickInFlorida]

Thanks for your response.  For the record, it comes from here (which I also saw before I posted the question) : <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.thebalance.com/can-i-deduct-commuting-expenses-397634">https://www.thebalance.com/can-i-...>

The challenge is ascertaining whether the travel to and from my pick up and delivery points is defined as "commuting" or "business travel."  A link in the above article goes on to say this:

What Qualifies as a Travel Expense?
Business travel, on the other hand, is not commuting, if it meets any of the following conditions:

1. If you have at least one regular work location away from your home and your travel is to a temporary work location in the same trade or business, regardless of the distance. Generally, the IRS considers that a temporary work location is one where your employment is expected to last 1 year or less.

2. The travel is to a temporary work location outside the metropolitan area where you live and normally work.

3. Your home is your principal place of business and the travel is to another work location in the same trade or business, regardless of whether that location is regular or temporary and regardless of distance. The IRS considers that your home is your principal place of business if you deduct expenses for business use of your home (not as an employee).  

My interpretation is that I qualify for #2, so my expenses ARE deductible, at least the ones that involve travel to points outside my metropolitan area.  But I am not certain, hence my question.  If I live in Atlanta and fly to Denver one time only to drive a car back to Atlanta, I'm not clear if Denver meets the definition of a "temporary work location."