Well, as is the case with many tax questions, the answer is “it depends’.

Here is a quick summary of the rules:

Transportation costs

1. from home to your regular or main job are never deductible.
2. to or from your regular or main job and a temporary work location are always deductible
3. to and from a second job on a day off from your regular/main job are never deductible
4. to and from your home and a temporary work location are deducible if you have a regular or main job at another location

Whether or not you get a tax benefit from such costs may be affected by whether you are an employee or self-employed and whether or not you are reimbursed

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To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, unless specifically indicated otherwise, any tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding tax related penalties or promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any tax related matter addressed herein.

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Replying to:

From January till October 11, 2006 I traveled 165 miles per day to work. (round trip) In gas alone I spent aprox. $300/ month. I heard I could able to write off my mileage, gas, and maintenance for my car. Is that true?

Zip Code: 27401

Thanks Barry.

Just to clarify, here is my understanding of the rules:

Deductible mileage:

1. Driving between job sites
2. Driving between your home and a temporary job site
3. Driving to meetings, conferences, interviews

Non-deductible mileage:

Driving between your home and a regular place of business


We wrote an article on the professional expenses common to healthcare professionals in our February 2004 newsletter available at: http://www.mdtaxes.com/news0204.html.

Zip Code: 01801