Can you deduct taxes on commute to work if you have a car-based side business?
So I've got this crazy long commute to my regular job (about 45 minutes each way) and I've been thinking about ways to make this time more productive and maybe even tax deductible. I recently started a small side hustle where I record a podcast about local restaurant reviews while I'm in my car. I usually record after work when I'm driving around to different food spots, but sometimes I'll record thoughts during my commute too if I have a good idea. I've been making about $250-300 per month from this podcast through sponsorships and Patreon subscribers. I keep detailed records of when I'm recording and how it relates to the podcast content. Since being in my car is literally essential for this side gig (the whole premise is "driving food reviews"), I'm wondering if I can deduct any of my car expenses or mileage on my taxes? To be clear, I'm a W-2 employee at my day job, but the podcast stuff would fall under 1099 contractor income. Would this allow me to deduct some of my driving costs, or am I completely out of luck because my regular commute is mixed in with this? Anyone know how the IRS looks at situations like this?
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Kayla Jacobson
This is a great question! Regular commuting expenses between your home and primary workplace are considered personal expenses and aren't deductible, even if you're recording podcast content during that time. However, for your 1099 contractor work (the podcast), you CAN deduct business mileage - but only for the driving that's specifically for your business purposes. The key is to separate your regular commute from your business driving. For example, if you drive to restaurants specifically to review them for your podcast after work, those miles would be deductible as a business expense on Schedule C. But your normal commute to and from your W-2 job wouldn't be deductible, even if you're recording during that time. You'll need to keep a detailed mileage log showing the business purpose of each trip. Track dates, starting/ending locations, miles driven, and the business purpose. There are some good apps that can help with this. For 2025 tax filings, the standard mileage rate you can deduct is pretty good, so this could add up to a nice deduction if you're doing a lot of driving specifically for your podcast!
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William Rivera
•Thanks for explaining! I'm in a similar situation but I do photography instead of a podcast. If I go straight from my day job to a client photoshoot without going home first, can I deduct the miles from my workplace to the client location? Or only from home to client?
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Kayla Jacobson
•The miles from your workplace directly to a client photoshoot would be deductible as business miles! When you travel from one business location (your W-2 workplace) to another business location (your photography client), those miles count as business miles, not commuting. If you go home first and then leave again to go to a client, the miles from your home to the client would also be deductible since your home would be your principal place of business for your photography work.
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Grace Lee
I was in a similar situation last year with my travel blog/vlog and found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me a ton of headache with sorting out my mixed-use vehicle expenses. Their AI analyzed my situation and helped me understand exactly what percentage of my driving could be legitimately claimed as a business expense. The tool helped me categorize my mileage correctly and even helped identify deductions I was missing related to my content creation business. For your podcast, it could help you maximize legitimate deductions while keeping you safe from audit risk. The best part was how it explained everything in plain English instead of confusing tax jargon!
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Mia Roberts
•Did it specifically help with mixed driving situations? I drive Uber on weekends but also use my car for regular commuting during the week. Always worried I'm calculating wrong.
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The Boss
•Sounds interesting but how does it actually work? Do you just upload your mileage log or something? And does it help with other 1099 expenses beyond just the car stuff?
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Grace Lee
•It definitely helps with mixed driving situations! You can input your different types of trips and it helps separate personal, commuting, and business miles correctly. For Uber drivers, it's especially useful since it understands the specific tax rules that apply to rideshare drivers. For how it works, you can either upload existing logs or track new trips through the system. It asks smart questions about your specific situation and business type. And yes, it goes way beyond just mileage - it handles all 1099 expenses including home office, supplies, subscriptions, and even helps identify industry-specific deductions based on what type of independent contractor work you do.
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Mia Roberts
Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai that someone mentioned earlier. I was skeptical but decided to try it for my Uber/regular commute situation. Wow - it actually identified about $1,800 in deductions I would have missed! The system asked really specific questions about my driving patterns and helped me understand exactly which miles counted as business vs. commuting. It also helped me set up a proper mileage tracking system going forward that's IRS-compliant. I'm actually feeling confident about my taxes for the first time since starting rideshare. For anyone mixing W-2 and 1099 work with the same vehicle, it's definitely worth checking out.
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Evan Kalinowski
If you need clarification directly from the IRS about your specific situation, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I had a similar situation with mixed business/personal use of my vehicle and kept getting different answers from tax preparers. I tried calling the IRS myself but kept getting stuck on hold for hours. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent was able to confirm exactly what I could deduct for my situation and gave me the specific publication number to reference if I ever got audited. Having that official guidance directly from the IRS gave me total peace of mind.
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Victoria Charity
•Wait, how does this actually work? The IRS phone lines are notoriously impossible to get through. Are you saying this service somehow gets you past the waiting queue?
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Jasmine Quinn
•Yeah right. Nothing gets you through to the IRS faster. This sounds like a scam that just takes your money and puts you on hold like everyone else. The IRS doesn't give special access to any company.
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Evan Kalinowski
•It works by using technology that navigates the IRS phone system and waits on hold for you. When an agent finally picks up, you get a call connecting you directly to them. It's completely legitimate - they don't have special access, they just handle the frustrating wait time so you don't have to sit there listening to hold music for hours. It's definitely not a scam. They use publicly available IRS phone numbers and simply automate the waiting process. I was skeptical too until I tried it and got connected to an actual IRS representative who answered all my questions about vehicle deductions. The time saved was absolutely worth it, especially during tax season when hold times can be 3+ hours.
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Jasmine Quinn
I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to get clarification on business mileage deductions for weeks. I was shocked when I actually got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes. The agent walked me through exactly how to handle my Uber driving deductions separately from my personal commuting miles, and confirmed I needed to use Form 2106 along with my Schedule C. The IRS person actually told me that mixing business and commuting is one of the most common audit triggers, so I'm glad I got official clarification. Definitely wasn't a scam like I thought!
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Oscar Murphy
Another option would be to make your "regular" commute officially part of your podcast business. Like, you could rebrand your show to specifically review your commute route businesses and traffic patterns daily. Then your commute becomes the actual content creation time and location for your business. My brother-in-law did something similar with his photography business where he specifically focused on documenting his daily train commute and now sells prints. The IRS has never questioned his deductions since the commute literally IS his business.
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Nora Bennett
•Is this actually legit though? Seems like you're just trying to find a loophole that would get flagged in an audit. Can you really just "decide" your commute is now your business?
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Oscar Murphy
•It's not about "deciding" your commute is your business - it's about actually establishing a legitimate business purpose that happens to use your commute route. My brother-in-law's commute photography project generates actual income through print sales, and he has documentation showing the business purpose of each trip. You'd need to be able to show that your podcast is truly focused on your commute route specifically, with actual content about locations along that route, and that you're consistently creating content during those drives. You also need real income from it. The IRS looks at whether there's a profit motive and if the activity is carried out in a businesslike manner. It's not a loophole if it's actually a legitimate business activity.
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Ryan Andre
Don't forget that if you use the standard mileage rate (which most people should), you can't also deduct individual car expenses like gas, insurance, maintenance, etc. The standard rate (62.5 cents per mile for 2025) is supposed to cover all those costs. But if your car is expensive to operate, you might want to calculate actual expenses instead. Just keep ALL receipts and determine the percentage of business use vs personal use. And whichever method you choose in the first year you use the car for business, you're pretty much locked into for the life of that vehicle!
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Lauren Zeb
•One other thing to consider is that you'll need to fill out a Schedule C for your podcast income, which means you'll pay self-employment tax on that income (about 15.3%). So make sure your deductions are actually saving you more than you're paying in SE tax if this is a small side hustle.
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