What constitutes "out of town"?

[ems0710]

Hi. I'm an ASL interpreter who travels for work. (ETA: I am an independent contractor, not a W2 employee.) Now, I know that commute mileage cannot be deducted (home to my "office" for the day, which is my first job since I don't work out of an office and currently can't have one in my home, and my last job back home), but multiple things also say that working on a temporary assignment (expected to last less than a year and is actually less than a year) out of town can deduct travel expenses. I'm a substitute/filler, so temporary is the nature of the gig. I currently have an assignment that will go through May, so check on "temporary." But what is considered "out of town"?

I've read a lot and asked a few people and I can't seem to get a clear answer. And if it's a definition with wiggle room that's fine, but I would also think there would be some kind of working definition for us to go off of. This assignment I mentioned involves about an hour's drive (highway, not city driving) from my home. Would this be considered out of town? One person I asked said that if you can't go home for lunch and get back within an hour's break that's a good rule of thumb to use, but that describes every job I've had since I started this job last spring. One website I read said if the assignment was "out of the metro area of where you live" that was considered out of town. Describing where I live as "metro" is incredibly generous, but I take their point, sort of. So I guess my true question is that if I tracked my mileage and deducted that on my taxes based on that understanding, would I get dinged or is that reasonable? TIA.

[xmasbaby0]

Sorry----if you are a W-2 employee you cannot deduct job-related expenses on your federal tax return.  There is no wiggle room because you sometimes have a longer commute.   Your state laws might be different.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4482873-which-federal-tax-deductions-have-been-suspended-by-tax-re...

[ems0710]

I'm not a W2 employee, I'm an independent contractor.

[Hal_Al]

I agree with "outside of the metropolitan area where you live and/or normally work"  as being "out of town". 

I believe that an hour's drive (highway, not city driving) would be considered out of town.  But cannot give you an authoritative reference.  The last time I looked (which was a few years ago) there was no kind of working definition or rule of thumb, other than the "outside of the metropolitan area" 

[xmasbaby0]

Thanks for adding the information that you are an independent contractor.   But do you ever spend the night in the "out of town" locations you are driving to?   Driving home for lunch is not deductible, nor is it an expense to include on a Schedule C.   Lunch is just lunch---or are you buying lunch for clients?   

[Opus 17]

The answer is actually in black-and-white in IRS publication 463.  Chapter 1 covers “travel“ and chapter 4 covers “transportation“.

Travel is when you have to travel away from the area where you usually work for substantially longer than a day’s work, and where you need to sleep while you are away from home to meet the demands of the job..

Transportation is going to work within the general area of your tax home.

Basically, if you need to sleep away from home to be close to the area of the temporary assignment, then you are traveling. If you go home every night, you are commuting. I don’t see any utility of a “one hour lunch rule“, because you could bring your lunch from home for free — that’s why work meals are not deductible when you not traveling, because your meals at home are an ordinary living expense.  (Meals are 50% deductible when traveling because of the increased cost.)

[ems0710]

That makes sense, thank you.