Tom Briscoe‘s look at why most people have no clue as to their true tax burden. There really would be a much stronger push for tax reductions if there were no more withholdings and hidden taxes, and everyone had to write actual tax checks to pay their share of the cost of government.

Q:

Subject: Business miles/Home office

Kerry,

Having an ongoing discussion on a message board regarding deductible business miles/home office.

For a self-employed taxpayer, with his home being his principal place of business. Does TP have to meet the rules for business use of the home to be able to deduct business miles? In the TaxBook Deluxe, page 5-13, it talks about Business use of home tax advantages. Seems to imply that if you can’t qualify for business use of the home, then you can’t deduct business miles, say from home to client A, etc. Am I reading that wrong? I thought a TP could deduct miles if his home was his primary place of business, from the minute TP leaves the driveway, say to pickup supplies or visit client A, etc. If some on the message board are correct, then say the TP uses the home office even 1% of the time (not exclusive) for personal purposes, then no deduction for business miles. Any feedback appreciated. Thanks.

A:

I checked out some of the messages in that discussion and saw the variety of opinions expressed there.

While having a space in the home that meets the exclusive use test for home office deduction would be perfect support for the premise of zero nondeductible commuting miles, I don’t believe it to be a deal killer if the space is not exclusive. 

There are plenty of people who don’t have space in their homes that can be devoted 100% of the time to their businesses, but do run everything from their homes, such as on the kitchen or dining room tables.  In those cases, where they truly don’t have another office to drive to, all of their miles would be deductible in the exact same manner as for someone who has an 8829 compliant office.

As always, the burden of proving the legitimacy of this lies with the taxpayer; so attaching a statement to the 1040 explaining the situation would be a wise move to head off any IRS suspicion.

I hope this helps.

Kerry Kerstetter

Follow-Up:

Kerry,

 

Yes, a big help. I very much appreciate your responding.

 

 

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