Can I deduct mileage driving from home office to library to work remotely on laptop?

The IRS has pretty specific rules about business mileage deductions when you have a home office. Since your home is your principal place of business, you're actually in a good position. Miles from home to grandparents' house are considered personal commuting and not deductible, you're right about that. However, miles from grandparents' house to the library could potentially be deductible if you can establish the library as a secondary business location. The key is that you're going there specifically to conduct business and use their resources for work purposes. For the IRS to consider it a legitimate business expense, make sure you keep detailed records of these trips - dates, mileage, and the specific business purpose for each visit. Document how you use the library facilities for your business (research, meetings, etc.). And yes, any business errands you run while you're out are deductible regardless of where you start from. These would be considered business miles as long as the primary purpose is business-related.

I was in a similar situation last year trying to figure out all the mileage deductions for my freelance work. After spending hours researching and still being confused, I tried this service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that was really helpful for sorting through these tricky tax situations. You upload your specific tax scenario, and they analyze it using IRS rules and provide clear guidance. For my situation with multiple work locations, they helped me determine exactly which miles were deductible and which weren't. They even provided documentation I could keep with my tax records in case of an audit. Might be worth checking out if you want a definitive answer for your specific situation!

I was initially skeptical about taxr.ai but decided to try it for my similar home office situation. I'm a graphic designer who sometimes works from coffee shops and co-working spaces, and I was never sure which trips were deductible. After uploading my scenario to taxr.ai, they broke down exactly how the IRS views travel between business locations versus commuting. They confirmed that since my home office is my principal place of business, travel to other work locations is generally deductible business mileage (with some specific exceptions they outlined). The best part was they provided documentation explaining their analysis with references to specific IRS publications and tax court cases. This gave me confidence to claim the deductions I was entitled to while avoiding the ones that would raise red flags. Definitely worth it for self-employed folks with complicated work arrangements!

If you're having trouble getting clear answers about your business mileage deductions, you might want to speak directly with an IRS agent. I know, I know - getting through to the IRS seems impossible. I spent WEEKS trying to get someone on the phone about a similar home office mileage question. Then I found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that actually got me through to an IRS agent in under 15 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent I spoke with clarified that trips from my home office to temporary work locations can indeed be deductible business miles as long as I maintain proper documentation. Getting that official answer directly from the IRS gave me peace of mind that I wasn't making a mistake on my taxes.

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I'm a tax preparer, and this home office mileage question comes up a lot with my clients. The key distinction is whether your home office qualifies as your "principal place of business" under IRS rules. If it does (which sounds like your case), then travel from your home office to other business locations is generally deductible. However, the IRS will look at the "regular or principal place of business" for each of your income streams separately. So if one of your side hustles has a different principal location, the rules might apply differently to travel for that specific business activity. Make sure you keep a detailed mileage log with dates, starting/ending locations, business purpose, and miles driven. Also document how the library qualifies as a legitimate business location (what work you do there, why it's necessary for your business, etc.).

Just want to point out something that helped me with a similar situation - the "temporary work location" rule might apply here. According to IRS Publication 463, if you have a regular place of business (your home office) and you travel to a temporary work location (the library), those miles can be deductible. But there's a catch - if you go to the library regularly and it becomes a "regular place of business" rather than a temporary location, the rules change. The IRS doesn't have a precise definition of how frequent is too frequent, but it's something to be aware of.