Are commute expenses tax deductible? Would help bring more people back to the office

So I was interviewing this recent college grad for a position at our company, and during our conversation about benefits they asked if they could deduct their commute time on their taxes. I immediately said no, but honestly it got me thinking about how outdated that policy is. There are so many advantages to having people in the office at least a few days a week. Young employees learn from experienced colleagues through direct interaction. People suffering from the isolation of total remote work get social connection. Everyone builds relationships beyond just emails and Zoom calls. The problem is that housing prices have gotten ridiculously high in our area. A lot of our team moved further away during the pandemic and now aren't coming in because the commute is too long and expensive. I really think the government should consider making daily commute miles fully or partially tax deductible in future tax code updates. It would encourage more in-person work while giving regular working people an actual tax break that benefits them directly. Anyone know if there's any momentum for this kind of tax deduction? Or is there any way to somehow make commuting expenses deductible under current rules that I'm not aware of?

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19 comments

Ruby Blake

•8M

Unfortunately, commuting expenses are considered personal expenses by the IRS and are explicitly non-deductible. This is one of the most clearly established principles in tax law, and it's been tested in court numerous times with consistent rulings against deductibility. The logic behind this policy is that where you choose to live is a personal choice, so the government shouldn't subsidize that decision through tax benefits. The IRS views it as your responsibility to get to your regular workplace. There are a few limited exceptions though. If you travel between multiple work locations in a single day, that travel can be deductible. Also, if you have a qualifying home office as your primary workplace and then travel to other locations for work, those trips might be deductible. But regular commuting from home to a main workplace? Definitely not deductible.

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Ruby Blake

•8M

That's a good question, but the IRS has specific requirements for claiming a home office. You need to use that space regularly and exclusively for business, and it must be your principal place of business. Most hybrid workers wouldn't qualify because the company office is still considered their main workplace. For someone to successfully claim commuting as travel between work locations, they would need to legitimately establish their home office as their primary workplace first. This requires meeting all home office deduction criteria including using that space exclusively for business (not dual-purpose), having management responsibilities performed there, or meeting clients there regularly. Even then, the IRS scrutinizes these arrangements carefully during audits.

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Ella Harper

•8M

I discovered a service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me figure out all the commuting deduction rules. I was in a similar situation - I moved about 40 miles from my office during the pandemic and was trying to find ways to offset the commuting costs when I returned to in-office work. The service analyzed my entire work situation and showed me that while regular commuting isn't deductible, I could legitimately claim some travel expenses by restructuring my work arrangement. They examined my work contracts, home office setup, and job responsibilities to identify legitimate tax deductions I was missing.

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Ella Harper

•8M

They don't make regular commuting deductible - that would be against tax law. What they do is analyze your entire work situation to find legitimate business travel that might be mixed in with your commuting. In my case, I had client visits and multiple work locations that I was treating as commuting but actually qualified as business travel. The service works by analyzing your documents to find patterns and situations that qualify for little-known deductions. They identified that I qualified for a partial home office deduction based on my contract requirements, which then made some of my travel deductible as business expenses rather than commuting. It's all legitimate according to IRS rules, just applying them more precisely to your specific situation.

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Brooklyn Knight

•8M

Just wanted to follow up - I was skeptical about taxr.ai but decided to try it anyway. They actually identified several legitimate business travel deductions I was missing! Turns out some of my "commuting" was actually travel between work locations that qualifies as a business expense. They analyzed my work contract and found language that established my home office as a legitimate secondary workplace for certain responsibilities. This meant some of my travel wasn't technically "commuting" under IRS rules. They even helped me document everything properly in case of an audit. I'm still paying for most of my regular commute out of pocket, but finding these additional deductions is saving me about $1,200 this year. Definitely worth checking out if you have a complex work arrangement.

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Owen Devar

•8M

For those struggling with tax questions like this, I found that speaking directly with an IRS agent gave me the clearest answers. Of course, actually reaching them was nearly impossible until I used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was on hold with the IRS for HOURS trying to get clarification about deducting some work-related travel that might have been considered commuting. Claimyr got me connected with an actual IRS representative in about 15 minutes. The agent walked me through exactly what qualifies as deductible business travel versus non-deductible commuting.

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Owen Devar

•8M

It actually calls the IRS on your behalf and navigates the phone system. When they reach a real person, you get a call back to connect with the agent. It's basically handling the waiting and phone menu navigation for you. No, I wasn't paid to post this - I was just relieved to finally get clear answers about my tax situation. The service exists because the IRS is so understaffed that getting through is nearly impossible during tax season. They use a system that continually redials and navigates the phone tree until they get a human, then they connect you. I was skeptical too until I tried it.

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Sophie Footman

•8M

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier. After waiting on hold with the IRS for 2+ hours and getting disconnected TWICE, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Got connected to an IRS agent in 17 minutes. The agent confirmed what others have said - regular commuting isn't deductible no matter how you slice it. But she did clarify some situations where travel might look like commuting but actually qualifies as business travel (temporary work locations, travel between work sites, etc.). Though it doesn't solve the original poster's problem about making commuting deductible, at least I got a definitive answer without wasting an entire day on hold. Sometimes it's worth paying for convenience, especially when dealing with the IRS.

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Connor Rupert

•8M

As a policy idea, making commuting tax deductible would be incredibly expensive for the government. Think about it - almost everyone commutes, so that's hundreds of billions in deductions. They'd have to raise tax rates elsewhere to make up for it. BUT there are some existing commuter benefits worth looking into. Some employers offer pre-tax commuter benefits (up to $300/month for transit/vanpool) through Section 132 fringe benefits. This can significantly reduce commuting costs. Ask your HR department if they offer this program.

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Connor Rupert

•8M

For driving expenses, the pre-tax benefits primarily cover parking costs at or near your workplace, up to $300/month. The actual driving expenses (gas, maintenance, etc.) can't be made pre-tax unless it's part of a qualified vanpool arrangement. If your employees are mostly drivers, highlight the parking benefit since it can save them 20-37% on those costs depending on their tax bracket. Some companies also offer incentives for carpooling or subsidize vanpools to help with commuting costs. These can be provided as tax-free fringe benefits under certain conditions. Worth exploring if you're trying to encourage more in-office work.

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Molly Hansen

•8M

You're right, I didn't consider the housing affordability crisis in many areas. I was thinking purely from an environmental perspective, but there are social equity issues too. Maybe a better approach would be targeted deductions for lower-income workers who are forced to commute long distances due to housing costs, rather than blanket deductions that would mostly benefit higher-income taxpayers. Or better yet, improve public transportation and make that more widely available as a pre-tax benefit.

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