Resources:
- Revenue Procedure 2010-51
- 2012 Mileage Rate
- Deducting Travel, Entertainment, and Gift Expenses
- Tax Topic 511 – Business Travel Expenses
Why YOU Should Care:
While the cost of your daily commute is not a deductible expense, there are situations in which use of your vehicle or public transportation can be deducted.
Deducting Transportation Expenses
Certain travel expenses are deductible to the extent they are not reimbursed by your employer. The following types of transportation expenses are deductible when you are away from home on business:
- Travel by plane, train, bus, or rental car between your home and business destination
- Using your personal vehicle for travel to or at a business destination
- See here for more information about mileage deductions
- Fares for taxis between the hotel, airport/train station, and work location
- Tickets for travel on public transit between the hotel, airport/train station, and work location
In order for the expenses above to be deductible, you must be at a business destination outside of your “tax home” for a period of greater than one day. As such, the cost of your daily commute – either via personal vehicle or public transportation – will never be a deductible business expense.
Your tax home is the general metropolitan area in which your main place of business is located. This is not necessarily where you live. For example, if you live with your family in Philadelphia but travel to Washington, D.C. during the workweek, the cost of your travel to and stay in the Capitol is not deductible because you are not outside of your tax home. While you may feel at home in Philadelphia, your tax home for business purposes is Washington, D.C.
