Now, just to be clear, this isn’t about the commute going from home to work and back. However, if you have to stop by to drop off some documents for a client, or if you went to a conference, then some of that mileage may apply as a deduction part of unreimbursed travel expense! To able to write off travel expenses, you are required to meet certain conditions:

  • Your travel should be temporary or your assignment should be temporary, OR
  • You have to be away from your tax home (for example, Azusa) which may be different from your family home (for example, Temecula).  Should the tax home not be the same as your family home, you may be face with a different set of rules when it comes to deducting travel expenses on your tax return.

If you meet one of the conditions, the unreimbursed travel expenses could be deductible. You would have to determine the category and deduction limitations. Some of the expenses you can deduct as travel expenses are: transportation costs, taxi fares, commuter bus charges, car, lodging and meals, tips and other similar ordinary and necessary expenses which are related to your business travel.

Example 1: You live and work in Los Angeles, and you had to travel to San Francisco to meet your client in her place of business. You took a shuttle to and from the Los Angeles airport, flew from LAX to SFO, rented a car and stayed one night at a hotel. If you were not reimbursed for any of these costs, you may able to deduct these travel expenses on your individual tax return.

Example 2: You live and work in the city of Monrovia and your corporate office in San Diego is requesting you to work out of the San Diego office for the next 20 months while completing your project. During these months, you periodically visited your home in Monrovia. Since you were realistically expected to work in San Diego for more than one year, you cannot deduct any of your travel expenses since San Diego became your tax home.

Still a bit confused? That’s okay. MiklosCPA knows that the IRS has some rules which are difficult to figure out. Our firm can help you determine if your expenses meet the requirement, and you may end up saving a bit of money on your taxes. Give us a call to help review your situation and we can help guide you to the right decision!

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