Business Mileage vs Commuting: Which Drives Are Deductible?

The line between a deductible business mile and a nondeductible commute is one of the most misunderstood rules in self-employment taxes, and the IRS knows it. Get it wrong and you are either leaving money on the table or claiming miles that would not survive an audit. Here is where the line actually sits.

Commuting is never deductible

Travel between your home and your regular place of work is commuting, and commuting is never deductible. It does not matter how far you drive, and it does not matter if you take work calls the whole way. This is the rule people most want to bend, and it is the one the IRS is most firm about.

The business miles that count

Once you are at work, driving for the business is deductible. That includes trips from one job site to another, drives to see clients or customers, travel to business meetings, and trips to a temporary work location. The deductible miles are the ones in the middle of your work day, not the ones bookending it.

The home-office exception

Here is where it gets favorable. If your home is your principal place of business, there is no nondeductible commute, because your first stop is your office. Trips from that home office to clients, suppliers, or other work sites are deductible business miles. This is one of the quiet perks of qualifying for a real home office.

The temporary work location rule

If you have a regular place of work, a trip from home to a temporary work location is deductible regardless of distance. "Temporary" means a job you realistically expect to last, and that does last, one year or less. Cross the one-year line and the IRS treats the location as indefinite, which turns those drives back into commuting. The catch is the "regular place of work" condition: without one, home to a temporary site can still be a nondeductible commute.

The rate and the log

For 2026, the standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents a business mile (it was 70 cents in 2025). You can use that rate or the actual-expense method, but either way you need a contemporaneous log: date, miles, and business purpose for each trip. See the 2026 mileage rate and standard mileage vs actual expenses to choose your method, and mileage log requirements for what the record needs to contain.

Common mistakes

Deducting the daily drive to a regular workplace is the big one, and a long commute is still a commute no matter the mileage. The other is assuming any trip that starts at home counts because you "work from home," when the home-office exception only applies if the home is genuinely your principal place of business.

How Vuuv helps

Vuuv records your drives automatically with GPS, then lets you classify each one as business or personal, and it applies the current IRS rate to the business miles so the deduction is calculated for you. Because it captures the route and the date as you drive, you end up with the contemporaneous log the IRS wants, instead of a guess reconstructed at tax time. You still decide which trips are business, which keeps the commute out of your deduction.

This article is general information, not tax advice. Tax rules change and every situation is different. Confirm the details against current IRS guidance or talk to a qualified tax professional before you file.