Can You Write Off Commuting Expenses?

The daily travel many people undertake for work represents a recurring cost, prompting questions about whether these expenses can reduce taxable income. This travel, called a commute, is the trip between a person’s residence and their primary place of employment. The financial weight of fuel, public transit fares, and vehicle maintenance makes the possibility of a tax deduction an important consideration.

The General Rule on Commuting

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) position is that costs for daily travel to a primary worksite are personal expenses and not tax-deductible. This includes the costs of driving a car, such as gas and maintenance, as well as fares for public transportation like buses or subways.

The reasoning behind this rule is that the decision of where to live is a personal choice. The IRS distinguishes these costs from deductible business expenses, which are incurred in the direct pursuit of profit. This rule applies regardless of the distance traveled or if work-related tasks are performed during the trip.

Deductible Local Transportation Expenses

While the daily commute is not deductible, certain other local travel expenses can be. These are not considered commuting but fall under deductible transportation costs. A common scenario is travel between two different work locations within the same day. If you drive from your main office to a client’s site or a secondary office, the cost of that specific trip is deductible.

Another exception involves travel to a temporary work location. A work location is defined by the IRS as “temporary” if the assignment is realistically expected to last for one year or less. If you travel from your regular place of work to a temporary worksite, those transportation costs can be deducted. You can also deduct the costs of traveling from your home to a temporary work location, provided you have a regular work location away from your home.

The ability to deduct travel from home expands if your home is your principal place of business. To qualify, a specific area of the home must be used exclusively and regularly for administrative or management activities of your business, with no other fixed location for these activities. When these conditions are met, your home office is your primary workplace, and you can deduct travel from your home to any other work location in the same business.

Impact of Employment Status

The ability to claim deductions for qualifying transportation expenses is tied to your employment status. Self-employed individuals, such as independent contractors, can deduct these costs as business expenses on Schedule C (Form 1040). This directly reduces their business income and, therefore, their self-employment and income taxes.

The situation is different for most W-2 employees. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 suspended the deduction for unreimbursed employee business expenses for tax years 2018 through 2025. This means that if an employee’s travel meets the definitions for deductible transportation, they cannot claim it on their federal tax return if their employer does not provide reimbursement.

A few specific categories of employees can still deduct unreimbursed work-related expenses using Form 2106, Employee Business Expenses. These groups include:

• Armed Forces reservists
• Qualified performing artists
• Fee-basis state or local government officials
• Employees with impairment-related work expenses

Calculating and Claiming the Deduction

For those eligible to deduct local transportation costs, the IRS requires that you substantiate these expenses with reliable records. For vehicle expenses, this means maintaining a detailed mileage log. The log must include the date of each trip, the destination, the business purpose, and the starting and ending odometer readings.

Taxpayers have two methods for calculating the deduction: the standard mileage rate and the actual expense method. The standard mileage rate is a simplified option where you multiply your total business miles by a rate set annually by the IRS; for 2025, the rate is 70 cents per mile. This rate accounts for the costs of gasoline, insurance, repairs, and depreciation.

The actual expense method involves tracking and deducting the real costs of operating your vehicle for business. This includes adding up all car-related expenses for the year, such as gas, insurance, repairs, and depreciation, and then multiplying the total by the percentage of business use. To determine this percentage, you divide the business miles driven by the total miles driven for the year. While this method requires more complex calculations, it can result in a larger deduction for vehicles with higher operating costs.