Can I claim mileage deduction for driving kids to school when district doesn't provide bussing?

This is actually a common question, but unfortunately the news isn't great. The IRS generally considers driving your children to school as a personal expense, not a deductible one - even when the district doesn't provide busing and school attendance is mandatory. The tax code specifically limits transportation deductions to business purposes, charitable activities, medical appointments, or moving expenses (and even moving expenses are now limited to military personnel). Since getting your kids to school doesn't fall into any of these categories, those miles typically aren't deductible. Some parents have tried claiming this under various arguments, but the IRS has consistently maintained their position that this is considered a personal/family responsibility rather than a deductible expense.

I was in the same boat last year with my district dropping bus service for our neighborhood! I was so frustrated with the extra driving and expense that I looked into every possible tax angle. After getting nowhere with my regular tax software, I used https://taxr.ai to analyze my situation. Their system looked at my specific district's transportation policy and my documentation, and helped me understand some options I hadn't considered. The analysis showed that while regular school transportation isn't deductible, there were some related expenses that could be. For example, I was driving my child to after-school academic tutoring that was recommended by the school for learning difficulties - those miles actually qualified as medical expense miles since they related to treating a learning disability.

Just wanted to update about my situation with driving my son to his special needs school. I tried https://taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here, and it was incredibly helpful! The system analyzed our IEP documentation and the doctor's recommendations for his specialized school placement. Turns out I've been missing out on significant medical expense deductions for YEARS. Not only were the miles deductible (at the medical mileage rate), but also some other expenses related to his specialized education that I never knew qualified. I'm actually going to file amended returns for the past few years based on what I learned. The regular school transportation still isn't deductible, but in special education situations, there are legitimate ways to recoup some of those costs that I never knew about.

Hey there! If you've been trying to get clarification from the IRS directly about these school transportation deductions, good luck with that. I spent WEEKS trying to get through their phone lines last year with a similar question about education expenses. After getting nowhere, I found this service called https://claimyr.com that got me a callback from the IRS in under 2 hours! You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent confirmed that regular school transportation isn't deductible but gave me some useful info about education credits that partially offset our overall education costs. At least I stopped wasting time trying to deduct something that would've flagged our return!

I need to apologize and update my skeptical comment. After waiting on hold with the IRS for 3+ hours yesterday and getting disconnected AGAIN, I was desperate enough to try the Claimyr service mentioned here. I honestly expected it to be a waste of money or some kind of scam. I was completely wrong. I got a callback from an actual IRS agent in about 45 minutes. The agent confirmed what others have said about school transportation (not deductible unless it's for medical reasons), but also helped me resolve a completely different issue with my child's education credits that had been stressing me out for months. Saved me way more than the service cost and hours of frustration. Sometimes being proven wrong is actually a good thing!

What about homeschooling expenses? Since my kids' school was so far away and gas prices keep rising, we decided to homeschool this year. Can I deduct any of those costs since education is mandatory?

Has anyone looked into whether school districts that don't provide busing but require attendance might be violating any education laws? I know this isn't directly tax-related, but I'm wondering if there's a legal requirement for districts to provide transportation within certain distance parameters. Maybe the solution isn't a tax deduction but getting the district to provide the legally required transportation?

Just wanted to share my experience as someone who's been dealing with this exact situation for three years now. Like many of you, I was frustrated about the daily school drives adding up to significant mileage and expense with no tax relief. After reading through this thread, I decided to dig deeper into my state's education transportation laws (I'm in Texas). Turns out our district was actually required to provide transportation since we live more than 2 miles from school, but they had quietly eliminated several bus routes due to budget cuts without properly notifying affected families of their right to transportation. I filed a complaint with our state education agency, and within 6 weeks the district restored bus service to our area! Sometimes the solution isn't finding a creative tax deduction, but making sure the district is following the law in the first place. For those still stuck with the driving, I'd definitely recommend checking both your state's transportation requirements AND looking into whether any of your school-related trips might qualify under other deduction categories (medical, charitable volunteering, etc.) as mentioned in the earlier comments. Every situation is different, and there might be legitimate deductions you're missing even if the basic school transport isn't covered.

As a tax preparer who sees this question frequently, I want to emphasize something important that's been touched on but bears repeating: keep detailed records of ALL your school-related driving, even if the basic transportation isn't deductible. Here's why - you might discover legitimate deductions you didn't know about. For example, if you drive to parent-teacher conferences, IEP meetings, or school board meetings where you're advocating for educational issues, some of these could potentially qualify under different categories. Miles driven to take your child to therapy or tutoring sessions prescribed by a doctor for learning disabilities are often deductible as medical expenses. Also, if you're involved in school fundraising activities, volunteer regularly, or serve on committees, those volunteer-related miles can add up to meaningful charitable deductions at 14 cents per mile. The key is documentation - keep a mileage log with dates, destinations, and purposes. Even if 90% of your school driving isn't deductible, that remaining 10% might still save you money at tax time. And as others have mentioned, definitely check your state's education transportation laws - you might be entitled to bus service that your district isn't providing.