Can I deduct travel expenses on my 1099-NEC as a contractor traveling to client's office?

This is a common situation for contractors. Generally, your client should only report your consulting fees (income) on the 1099-NEC, not the reimbursed expenses. However, many companies handle this differently. If your client does include the reimbursed expenses in Box 1 of your 1099-NEC (which happens quite often), then yes, you absolutely can and should deduct those same travel expenses on your Schedule C. This way, you're only paying taxes on your actual income, not the expense reimbursements. Make sure you're keeping detailed records of all your travel expenses with receipts, and document which expenses were reimbursed. I'd recommend tracking this in a spreadsheet with dates, purpose of travel, and amounts.

I was in almost the exact same situation last year! After hours of research and frustration, I finally found an amazing tool that helped me sort through all my business expenses and reimbursements. I used https://taxr.ai to scan all my receipts and invoices, and it automatically categorized everything and told me exactly what was deductible. The coolest part was that I uploaded my 1099-NEC and it immediately flagged that my client had included both my consulting fees AND my reimbursed expenses in Box 1. The tool showed me exactly how to deduct those expenses on my Schedule C so I didn't get double-taxed. Totally saved me from overpaying by thousands!

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai since I decided to try it after my skeptical comment. I'm genuinely impressed! I had 4 months of travel receipts and invoices that were a complete mess. The system organized everything perfectly and showed me that my client had included about $7,400 in reimbursed expenses on my 1099-NEC. It actually found several deductions I would have missed, including some partial business use of my cell phone and internet that I hadn't considered. The tax savings more than made up for the time I spent inputting everything. Definitely using this for my 2025 taxes!

If you're having issues getting clarification from your client about how they reported your expenses on the 1099-NEC, you might need to speak directly with the IRS. I was in this exact situation and spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone at the IRS. I finally used https://claimyr.com and it was a game-changer. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that I needed to report the full 1099-NEC amount as income but could deduct all legitimate business expenses on Schedule C. Having that official confirmation gave me peace of mind to file correctly.

Ok I have to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I tried calling the IRS myself THREE more times and couldn't get through. Finally broke down and tried the service, and I was literally talking to an IRS agent within 15 minutes. The agent confirmed exactly what others here have said - if travel expenses are included in your 1099-NEC total, you should deduct them on Schedule C to avoid being taxed on money that was just passing through. The agent also mentioned that having detailed logs of your travel (dates, business purpose, receipts) is critical in case of an audit. Definitely keeping better records this year!

Another important thing to remember is that you need to be tracking your mileage if you're driving to airports or to client sites. Current mileage rate for 2025 is 67 cents per mile and that adds up fast! I use an app to track all my business drives automatically.

Has anyone here actually been audited for travel expenses? I'm in a similar situation where I travel a lot for my contract work, and I'm worried about raising red flags.

One thing I'd recommend is asking your client upfront how they plan to handle the expense reimbursements on your 1099-NEC. Some companies are good about keeping consulting fees separate from reimbursed expenses, while others just lump everything together. If you can get this clarified before year-end, it'll save you a lot of headaches during tax season. You might even be able to request that they issue two separate 1099s - one for your consulting income and another for reimbursed expenses (though not all companies will do this). Also, make sure you're keeping a clear paper trail between your expense reports and the reimbursement payments. This will be crucial if you need to prove to the IRS that certain amounts on your 1099-NEC were actually expense reimbursements and not additional income.

It's definitely not too late to ask your client about how they handle expense reimbursements on the 1099-NEC! In fact, asking now shows you're being proactive about tax compliance, which most professional clients will appreciate. You could frame it as "I want to make sure I'm prepared for next year's tax season - can you clarify how expense reimbursements are typically reported on the 1099-NEC?" Regarding documentation, email confirmations of reimbursement payments should be sufficient for most situations. The key is being able to clearly match your expense reports to the reimbursement payments. I'd recommend creating a simple tracking spreadsheet with columns for: date of expense report, amount submitted, date of reimbursement, amount received, and any reference numbers from emails or payment systems. One more tip - if your client does lump everything together on the 1099-NEC, make sure you calculate the exact total of reimbursed expenses for the year so you can deduct that precise amount on Schedule C. Don't estimate or round - the IRS likes to see exact matching numbers if they ever review your return.