How can I deduct mileage on my 1099 tax returns as a painter with temporary work locations?

You're in luck! As a 1099 contractor, your situation is different from a regular W-2 employee. Since you're self-employed and your home is likely your principal place of business (assuming you do some business activities there like scheduling, billing, etc.), the miles to temporary work locations are generally deductible business expenses. The IRS considers commuting as travel between your home and a regular workplace. But since you're self-employed with no regular workplace, and you're going to temporary job sites, those miles typically qualify as business miles, not commuting. Make sure you keep detailed records of each trip - date, starting/ending locations, business purpose, and total miles. The standard mileage rate for 2025 is 65.5 cents per mile, which can add up to a significant deduction with 24,000 business miles!

I was in almost the exact same situation as you last year! I'm a contract electrician and was losing my mind trying to figure out the mileage stuff until someone told me about taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai). It's like an AI tax assistant that helped me figure out exactly what I could deduct. It analyzed my situation and confirmed that as a 1099 contractor going to temporary work locations, my miles were deductible. It even helped me understand what documentation I needed to keep (I was just writing mileage on random scraps of paper before lol). Saved me thousands in deductions I was about to miss!

Just wanted to update after checking out taxr.ai from the recommendation above. It was seriously helpful for my painting business! I uploaded my mileage log (which was honestly just a mess of notes in my phone) and it organized everything and confirmed that yes, my travel between home and temporary work sites IS deductible as business mileage. The best part was it explained WHY I qualify - since I have no "regular place of business" and my home office is where I handle client calls and paperwork. It even caught some additional deductions related to my equipment that I had no idea about. This tax season is looking way less stressful now!

For anyone dealing with complicated tax questions like this, I'd strongly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get direct answers from the IRS. I had similar mileage deduction questions last year that my accountant couldn't definitively answer, and I spent WEEKS trying to get through to the IRS myself. After using Claimyr, I got connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes who confirmed exactly how to handle my contractor mileage situation. They have this demonstration video (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) that shows how it works. It seriously saved me from making a costly mistake on my taxes.

I have to eat my words about Claimyr from my comment above. After basically calling BS on it, I decided to try it anyway out of desperation because I needed clarification on some 1099 issues including the mileage question. Holy crap it actually works! After trying to call the IRS myself for MONTHS, Claimyr got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes. The agent confirmed that as a self-employed painter with temporary work locations, I can absolutely deduct the mileage between my home and job sites since I don't have a regular place of business. Saved me about $9,300 in deductions I was afraid to take. Never been so happy to be wrong about something!

One thing nobody mentioned yet - make sure you're tracking your mileage properly! The IRS is really picky about documentation. You need: - Date of each trip - Starting and ending locations - Business purpose - Odometer readings or total miles I use MileIQ app which has saved me during an audit. Also, if you're claiming home as your principal place of business, make sure you actually have a dedicated space for business activities. Just saying it's your office isn't enough if you get audited!

Has anyone actually been audited over mileage? I've been a 1099 contractor for 6 years and honestly just guesstimate my miles. Never had any issues.

As someone who's been through the 1099 contractor maze myself (freelance graphic designer), I can confirm what others have said about the temporary work location rule being your friend here. The key distinction is that you don't have a "regular" workplace - you're bouncing between different client sites that are all temporary by nature. One thing I'd add that hasn't been mentioned yet: make sure you're also tracking any trips between job sites during the same day. If you go from your home to Site A, then to Site B, then back home, ALL of those miles are deductible business miles, not just the initial trip from home. Also, with 24,000 miles, you're looking at potentially $15,720 in deductions at the current rate (24,000 × $0.655). That's a huge amount to leave on the table! Definitely worth getting this sorted out properly. The documentation advice from @Ravi Sharma is spot on - I learned that lesson during a small audit a few years back. Better to over-document than under-document when it comes to the IRS.