Commuting mileage

[giogis245]

Client works in construction, his commute is pretty long to and from work.  He says he has always included his commuting miles on his taxes because he drives a lot, he is saying his prior tax preparer would only allow one way, not round trip miles.  I told him we can't include the commute miles on the taxes but he says everyone at work does.  Am I missing something??  

[Elrod]

Tax home.

Generally, your tax home is your regular or main place of business or post of duty regardless of where you maintain your family home. If you do not have a regular or main place of business because of the nature of your work, then your tax home may be the place where you regularly live. If you do not have a regular or a main place of business or post of duty and there is no place where you regularly live, you are considered an itinerant (a transient) and your tax home is wherever you work. As an itinerant, you are never away from home and cannot claim a travel expense deduction. For more details on the definition of a tax home, see Pub. 463.

[Terry D EA]

The mileage from and to his home is the commute. Any jobs in-between are deductible mileage. There are always the ones who says everyone else does and you are not missing a thing.

[joanmcq]

If the commute is out of his tax home area, and the job is temporary, he can take the mileage. What your tax home area varies. I can't provide a cite right now, but 50 miles comes to mind. Also workers that report to a union hall to get jobs.

[Terry D EA]

Joan I agree but it hasn't been established where his tax home is. The OP says mileage from home.

[Abby Normal]

Daily transportation expenses you incur while traveling from home to one or more regular places of business are generally nondeductible commuting expenses. However, there may be exceptions to this general rule. You can deduct daily transportation expenses incurred going between your residence and a temporary work station outside the metropolitan area where you live. Also, daily transportation expenses can be deducted if: (1) you have one or more regular work locations away from your residence or (2) your residence is your principal place of business and you incur expenses going between the residence and another work location in the same trade or business, regardless of whether the work is temporary or permanent and regardless of the distance.

Illustration of transportation expenses.    Figure B , earlier, illustrates the rules that apply for deducting transportation expenses when you have a regular or main job away from your home. You may want to refer to it when deciding whether you can deduct your transportation expenses.

Temporary work location.   If you have one or more regular work locations away from your home and you commute to a temporary work location in the same trade or business, you can deduct the expenses of the daily round-trip transportation between your home and the temporary location, regardless of distance.   If your employment at a work location is realistically expected to last (and does in fact last) for 1 year or less, the employment is temporary unless there are facts and circumstances that would indicate otherwise.   If your employment at a work location is realistically expected to last for more than 1 year or if there is no realistic expectation that the employment will last for 1 year or less, the employment is not temporary, regardless of whether it actually lasts for more than 1 year.

 

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p463/ch04.html

 

No main place of business or work.    You may have a tax home even if you do not have a regular or main place of work. Your tax home may be the home where you regularly live.

Factors used to determine tax home.    If you do not have a regular or main place of business or work, use the following three factors to determine where your tax home is.

1. You perform part of your business in the area of your main home and use that home for lodging while doing business in the area.

2. You have living expenses at your main home that you duplicate because your business requires you to be away from that home.

3. You have not abandoned the area in which both your historical place of lodging and your claimed main home are located; you have a member or members of your family living at your main home; or you often use that home for lodging.

  If you satisfy all three factors, your tax home is the home where you regularly live. If you satisfy only two factors, you may have a tax home depending on all the facts and circumstances. If you satisfy only one factor, you are an itinerant; your tax home is wherever you work and you cannot deduct travel expenses.