Are local taxi (Uber) rides for disabled worker deductible on schedule C?

[taxcaster]

If someone is disabled and they must commute from their home to various local locations for work can Uber rides be considered tax deductible. According to guidance local business travel is not. 

However, I later found an IRS publication that seems to imply that it is deductible. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p463.pdf on page 34 states “You can deduct impairment-related expenses as business expenses if they are necessary for you to do your work satisfactorily.”

For example, imagine if you are a blind in-home music teacher and you go from home to home after school. The bus doesn’t go close enough to these homes or really work at all and the free county service is geared more for occasional use and you may wait 2 hours for a pickup. Uber enables this business to even happen. In this case can’t the cost of the Uber service be considered tax-deductible for the schedule C business tax form?

[JohnW15]

I can see what you're getting at, but the fact is, there's no provision under the law that would allow you to deduct commuting expenses, even if you have an impairment. 

The citation you make from IRS Publication 463 relates to expenses that are necessary to "do your work satisfactorily."  The examples provided below this citation describe impaired persons who can deduct expenses for people providing services to help them in the performance of their job. 

That's the type of expense that can be deducted.

And, unfortunately, you're not allowed to claim this as a medical expense, either, if you're claiming itemized deductions.  You can't include, in medical expenses, the cost of transportation to and from work, even if your condition requires an unusual means of transportation.

[CunninghamCPA]

Rather than claim as a disability related deduction, consider Section 162 business expense.  Business travel expense to visit a client's location is generally deductible under 162(a)2, unless the client location becomes your tax home (which would convert the business travel into commuter travel).  If you have a wide range of clients, with multiple lessons in the same day and some turnover in the client base it argues in favor of business expense.  On the other hand, if you have the same single client year after year, that will certainly be commuting expense.  

You didn't cite the guidance excluding "local business travel" but it likely concerned hotel and meals rather than taxi or mileage.  Consider the analog situations of a landscaping company or utility meter reader who travel within the same city as thier tax home and regulalry deduct those local transportation costs.

Depending on your unique travel pattern and client arrangements there may be some gray area, but as self employed using Schedule "C" you have more latitude than a W2 employees who no longer have Miscellaneous Itemized deductions on Schedule "A".