Can I deduct my transportation costs as an event company employee with changing work locations?

Unfortunately, as a W-2 employee, you generally cannot deduct transportation costs between your home and work locations - even if those locations change regularly. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended miscellaneous itemized deductions for employees from 2018 through 2025, which includes unreimbursed employee business expenses like transportation costs. However, there are a couple of things to consider. If you're traveling between different work sites during the same workday (not from home to work), those costs may be reimbursable by your employer. Have you checked if your employer offers any reimbursement program? Also, if you maintain a qualifying home office that serves as your principal place of business, transportation from there to work sites might potentially be deductible. But the home office would need to meet strict IRS requirements. Your best option might be to talk with your employer about either reimbursement or possibly increasing your compensation to offset these costs.

I was in almost the exact same situation last year working for event companies and spending crazy amounts on gas. I was so frustrated trying to figure out all the tax rules until I found this AI tax assistant at https://taxr.ai that actually analyzed my situation and saved me a ton of time. It reviewed my specific work arrangement and clarified that while W-2 employees generally can't deduct these transportation expenses, there might be exceptions based on "temporary work location" rules. It helped me document everything properly so I could approach my employer about reimbursement with actual IRS guidelines backing me up. The tool also helped me identify other deductions I didn't know about that actually did apply to my situation. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with complicated work arrangements like this.

I tried taxr.ai after seeing this recommendation and I'm actually shocked at how helpful it was. I've been doing event setup for 3 years and always just accepted that my travel costs were my problem. The tool analyzed my work contracts and pay stubs and identified that in my case, two of my regular venues could be classified differently for tax purposes. It also found that I could legitimately claim my specialized tools and equipment that my employer doesn't provide. What surprised me most was how it caught a mistake in how my employer was classifying some of my work locations. I'm not getting everything reimbursed but I'm definitely in a better position now. Wish I'd known about this years ago!

I had a similar issue and spent HOURS trying to get someone at the IRS to clarify the rules. Kept getting disconnected or waiting forever. Finally used https://claimyr.com and their system got me a callback from an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent walked me through the exact requirements for the "temporary work location" exception and confirmed that while W-2 employees can't generally deduct these costs directly anymore, there are specific situations where employers can reimburse these costs tax-free. Having an actual IRS person explain it made everything so much clearer. I ended up using this information to negotiate a travel stipend with my company. Definitely worth the time to get official clarification rather than guessing.

I need to publicly eat my words here. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr myself because I've been trying to resolve an issue with the IRS for months. Got a callback in about 30 minutes with an actual IRS representative who solved my problem in one conversation. For context, I had previously spent over 4 hours on multiple calls trying to reach someone. The agent I spoke with also clarified the transportation deduction rules we're discussing here. Confirmed that while W-2 employees generally can't deduct these expenses directly, there are specific circumstances where employers can provide tax-free reimbursements. This cleared up confusion I've had for years. Sorry for being a jerk in my previous comment. Sometimes things that sound too good to be true actually work.

Have you considered asking your employer for a reimbursement instead? I work in event production and my company gives me a flat $50/day for any event more than 30 miles from our office. Might be worth bringing up, especially if other employees are in the same boat. You could also look into tracking your mileage carefully and using it as leverage when negotiating your next raise. That's what I did - showed my boss I was driving 8,000+ miles a year for work and got a 12% bump.

Does anyone know if this applies to rideshare/public transportation too? I don't have a car so I'm spending like $20-30 per day on Uber or train tickets to get to different event venues. Same situation as OP where I'm a W-2 employee but work at different locations all over the city.

I'm in a very similar situation working for multiple event companies! One thing that's helped me is keeping extremely detailed records of all my work locations and mileage. I use a simple spreadsheet with columns for date, client/event, venue address, miles from home, and whether it's a one-time or recurring location. Even though we can't deduct these costs directly as W-2 employees right now, having this documentation has been invaluable when discussing reimbursement with employers. I've found that smaller event companies are often more willing to work with you on travel costs when you can show them the actual financial impact. Also, don't forget to factor in your time spent traveling when evaluating job offers. I started declining gigs that were more than 60 miles away unless they paid significantly more to offset the travel costs and time. It's helped me be more strategic about which events I accept. The tax landscape might change after 2025 when the current restrictions on employee deductions expire, so definitely keep those records for the future too.