Can I deduct commuting expenses to my W2 job if I have a dedicated home office?
I know this might be a common tax question, but my situation feels different than typical cases. I work a hybrid schedule at my full-time W2 job - 3 days in the corporate office and 2 days working from home. At home, I have a dedicated spare room that's exclusively my office space. It contains only my desk and work equipment. I use this space for both my W2 remote work and for managing my side business that I own completely separate from my employment. Here's where I'm confused: For my side business, I can write off the mileage when I drive from my home office to my storage unit where I keep all my inventory. This is considered a legitimate business expense. So I'm wondering - why wouldn't my commute from my home office to my W2 employer's location also be tax deductible? In both cases, I'm technically traveling between two workplaces, right? If someone could explain whether I'm thinking about this correctly or completely misunderstanding the tax rules, I'd really appreciate it. This could make a significant difference in my deductions this year.
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Chloe Mitchell
You're running into one of the most common tax misconceptions here! While your reasoning seems logical, the IRS has very specific rules about commuting expenses. The key difference is that for your side business, you're traveling between two business locations (home office and storage unit). But for your W2 job, the IRS considers the trip between your home and employer's office as "commuting" - even if you have a legitimate home office. Commuting expenses are considered personal expenses by the IRS, not business expenses. This applies regardless of how far you live from work, whether you have a home office, or how many days you commute. There are some rare exceptions where travel between workplaces can be deductible, but they don't apply to regular commuting between home and a primary workplace, even when you have a qualifying home office.
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Aaron Lee
•Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense but feels frustrating! So even though I'm technically traveling between two work locations (my home office and corporate office), the IRS still just views it as regular commuting because one location happens to be in my home? Does it matter that my employer officially designates my home as an approved workspace as part of our hybrid arrangement?
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Chloe Mitchell
•Exactly - the IRS still considers it regular commuting because your home location is, well, your home - regardless of having a qualifying office space there. The tax code specifically excludes commuting as a deductible expense. Your employer's official designation of your home as an approved workspace doesn't change the tax treatment, unfortunately. What matters to the IRS is that you're traveling between your residence and your employer's workplace. The fact that your employer approves your home office arrangement is great for justifying other home office deductions if you're eligible, but doesn't transform commuting expenses into business travel.
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Michael Adams
After dealing with a similar situation last year, I found https://taxr.ai super helpful! I was confused about home office deductions with my hybrid work arrangement too. I uploaded my employment documents and previous tax returns, and it analyzed exactly which expenses were deductible for my home office versus what counted as commuting. Saved me from making a costly mistake on my taxes. The tool explained that while I couldn't deduct my commute to my employer's office, there were other legitimate home office deductions I qualified for that I had been missing. Definitely worth checking out if you're trying to maximize your deductions correctly!
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Natalie Wang
•Does this actually work for W2 employees though? I thought the 2017 tax law changes eliminated home office deductions for W2 workers completely? Can taxr.ai really find deductions that aren't available anymore?
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Noah Torres
•How accurate is this compared to just using TurboTax or talking to a CPA? I've been burned by online "tax helpers" before that just told me generic info I could've googled.
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Michael Adams
•You're right about the 2017 tax law changes - W2 employees can't take the home office deduction directly anymore. What taxr.ai helped me discover was that some of my expenses could be classified differently because I also have a side business like the original poster. It helped separate what was deductible for my self-employment versus what wasn't for my W2 work. Compared to TurboTax, I found it more personalized. TurboTax asks generic questions but taxr.ai analyzed my specific situation and documents. As for CPAs, they're great but expensive - I used taxr.ai first to organize everything and understand my situation before deciding if I needed to pay for a CPA consultation.
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Noah Torres
I just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here. I was skeptical at first but decided to try it since I have a similar setup with both W2 employment and a side business. Wow, what a difference! The tool clearly separated which of my home office expenses were deductible for my business versus my W2 job. It confirmed I couldn't deduct my commuting expenses to my main job (disappointing but good to know for sure), but it identified several legitimate business travel deductions related to my side hustle that I was missing. The document analysis feature was particularly helpful - it found patterns in my expenses that qualified as business use rather than personal. Definitely using this for my 2025 taxes!
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Samantha Hall
If you're still confused about your tax situation, you might want to speak directly with the IRS. I was in the same boat last year trying to figure out home office deductions with a hybrid work arrangement. After wasting hours on hold and getting disconnected multiple times, I found https://claimyr.com and used their service. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes! You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed exactly what others have said - commuting to your W2 job isn't deductible even with a home office, but helped me understand which home office expenses I could legitimately claim for my side business. Saved me from potentially getting audited.
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Ryan Young
•Wait, how does this actually work? They somehow get you through the IRS phone queue faster? That seems impossible with how backed up the IRS phone lines always are.
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Sophia Clark
•This sounds like a scam. Nobody can magically skip the IRS phone lines. Plus why would you pay someone just to wait on hold for you? The IRS is free to call anyway.
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Samantha Hall
•It uses a system that continuously redials until it gets through, then calls you when there's an actual IRS agent on the line. I didn't believe it would work either, but it saved me from having to manually redial for hours. The IRS queuing system is complicated and this service basically navigates it optimally. You're right that the IRS is free to call, but my time isn't free. I spent over 4 hours on multiple attempts before giving up and trying this. For me, not having to sit listening to hold music and getting disconnected repeatedly was worth it, especially when I needed specific answers before filing.
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Sophia Clark
I need to eat my words from my previous comment. After continuing to get nowhere with the IRS for three days straight (kept getting disconnected after 1+ hour holds), I tried the Claimyr service out of desperation. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes. The agent confirmed that commuting to a W2 job isn't deductible even with a legitimate home office, but helped clarify exactly which expenses related to my home office WERE deductible for my side business. For anyone dealing with complicated tax situations like this where you need direct confirmation from the IRS, this service actually works. Saved me days of frustration and potential tax mistakes.
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Katherine Harris
One thing nobody has mentioned - if your employer reimburses you for your commuting expenses, that's usually taxable income to you. But if they reimburse you for travel BETWEEN work locations (not including your home), that can be tax-free. So if you ever have to travel from your main office to another company location, that's different from your home-to-work commute.
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Madison Allen
•What about if you're required to carry heavy tools or equipment to your job? I've heard there's an exception for that situation where commuting might become deductible?
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Katherine Harris
•You're asking about the "tools of trade" exception. This is a very narrow exception where if you need to transport heavy tools or equipment that can't reasonably be stored at your workplace, the portion of your commuting expenses attributable to those tools might be deductible. This doesn't make your entire commute deductible though - just the extra cost associated with transporting the tools. And the IRS scrutinizes these claims heavily, so you'd need very good documentation showing why the tools couldn't be stored at work and why they were necessary for your job.
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Joshua Wood
Lots of good advice here but one thing: If you ever need to visit a client or customer directly from your home on days you work from home, that travel may be deductible since you're going from one workplace (home office) to another business location that's not your regular place of business. It gets complicated but keep track of all business-related travel just in case!
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Justin Evans
•This is actually incorrect information. Traveling from your home to ANY client is considered commuting by the IRS and isn't deductible - even if you have a home office. The only exception is if your home office is your principal place of business AND you're traveling to a temporary work location.
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Emily Parker
Has anyone used IRS Publication 463? It covers all of this transportation deduction stuff in detail. Pages 14-15 specifically talk about the difference between deductible travel and non-deductible commuting. Helped me figure out my similar situation with multiple workplaces.
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Aaron Lee
•Thanks for the reference! I'll definitely check out Publication 463. I'm trying to understand all the rules before I file my 2025 taxes and want to make sure I'm claiming everything I'm legitimately entitled to without raising any red flags.
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