Consultant, received a 1099-Misc from his "employer". I travel to their office Mon-Fri using public transport that cost over $13.00/day. Can I deduct the travel expense?

[henry_law]

My son is a first year marketing consultant, and received a 1099-Misc for Non-Employee compensation (box 7).  He travels to their office Monday to Friday every week on public transport that cost over $13.00/day.  Can he deduct the daily travel expense by multiplying all the days that he goes into the office by the $13.00?  This adds up to be a large amount of money for the entire year.

[DS30]

Yes - as a self-employed independent contractor, he would be able to claim the any travel expenses made away from his home office (his home) even if he is not able to claim a home office expense. This is due to the fact that as an independent contractor, his travel expenses to the office would be considered his travel expenses to his first (and maybe only) client's office.

[henry_law]

Thanks TTDeeS.  I love your answer.  My only concern that I had was I heard sometime ago because the travel is daily to his only one client's office would be classified by the IRS as a commute vs. business travel.

[DS30]

That would apply more to him if he was an employee (like instead of commuting to company's office, he commutes to his client's office). But for self-employed individuals, he can claim that his home is actually his "office" and any travel for business (including travel to a client's office) is a business expense.

[henry_law]

Thank you so much for re-confirming.

[DS30]

You are very welcome 🙂