Can I claim tax deduction for mandatory school transportation mileage?

Unfortunately, the IRS doesn't allow deductions for personal commuting expenses, which includes driving your children to and from school. Even though school attendance is mandatory, these miles are considered personal rather than business miles from a tax perspective. The only education-related mileage that might be deductible would be if you're driving yourself (not your children) to school for qualified educational purposes that maintain or improve skills needed for your current job. And even then, many educational travel deductions were suspended through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act until 2025. There are education tax credits like the American Opportunity Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit, but these apply to tuition and related expenses, not transportation costs to K-12 schools.

After dealing with a similar situation (our district only buses kids who live more than 2 miles away), I found an amazing tool at https://taxr.ai that helped me understand all my potential deductions. I was hoping to find something for our daily school drives too since we're putting 2,200+ miles on our car annually just for school. The tool analyzed my situation and confirmed what others are saying - unfortunately the school transportation isn't deductible federally. BUT it did find several other education-related deductions I was missing completely! It even showed me that in our state, there's a small credit available for educational expenses that I had no idea about.

I was totally skeptical about tax tools as mentioned above, but I decided to try https://taxr.ai after hearing about it here. Surprisingly, it was actually helpful! While it confirmed I couldn't deduct my kids' school transportation miles (bummer), it found several education-related deductions I'd been completely missing. The most valuable thing was discovering my state has a special education expense credit that DOES include certain transportation costs under specific circumstances. I would have never known to look for this. The tool even generated a checklist of documentation I'll need for tax time. Saved me a ton of research and probably some money too.

If you're still trying to get answers about this school transportation issue from the IRS directly, good luck getting through to them! I spent 3+ hours on hold trying to ask this exact question last year. Finally found a service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes. The agent confirmed what others are saying - no federal deduction for school transportation regardless of whether the district offers busing or not. BUT she did mention checking state tax codes since some states have education credits that are more generous than federal ones. You can see how their service works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c if you need to get specific answers from the IRS about your situation.

I need to eat my words. After posting my skeptical comment, I was still desperate for answers about education expenses, so I tried Claimyr. Within 25 minutes I was actually talking to an IRS agent - which was shocking after my previous 2+ hour waits. The agent confirmed there's no federal deduction for driving kids to school, but suggested I look into my state's tax code. Turns out my state has a "Dependent Education Expense Credit" that I qualified for! While it doesn't specifically cover transportation, it freed up enough tax burden that it offset some of my driving costs. Would never have known to look there without getting proper guidance first.

Check with your school district about forming a carpool group! We were in the same situation (no buses, mandatory attendance) and coordinated with 3 other families in our neighborhood. Now we each drive only once or twice a week instead of daily. Not a tax solution, but it reduced our annual school mileage from about 1,800 to around 450 miles per year. That's a huge savings on gas, wear and tear, and our time. The school actually helped connect us with nearby families through their parent coordinator.

My neighbor is a tax preparer and she said some parents try to deduct this as a medical expense if their child has an IEP or 504 plan, claiming it's necessary transportation for medical/educational services. But she strongly warned against this unless the transportation is specifically for medical treatment or special education services explicitly required in the IEP. Regular transportation to standard schooling doesn't qualify, even with an IEP. The IRS apparently flags these kinds of questionable deductions often. Just FYI before anyone goes down that path!

I went through this exact same frustration last year when our district cut bus routes! After researching extensively and even consulting with a CPA, I can confirm that unfortunately there's no federal tax deduction for mandatory school transportation costs. However, don't give up entirely - here are a few things that might help your situation: 1. **Check your state tax code** - Some states offer education expense credits that are more generous than federal rules. A few states actually do provide small credits for transportation-related educational expenses. 2. **Document everything anyway** - Keep detailed records of your mileage, gas receipts, and any vehicle maintenance costs related to school transportation. While not deductible now, tax laws can change, and having good records never hurts. 3. **Look into other education deductions** - Make sure you're not missing any legitimate education-related tax benefits like the Child and Dependent Care Credit if you're paying for before/after school care due to your work schedule. 4. **Consider the bigger picture** - If you're doing any work-from-home or side business, make sure you're maximizing those vehicle deductions for legitimate business use. It's genuinely unfair that we're legally required to get our kids to school but can't deduct the forced expense, especially when districts cut transportation. Hopefully future tax reform will address this gap!