How to claim unreimbursed mileage expenses on taxes when employer only pays partial IRS rate?

Thanks for the insight! Quick question - how do I know if I qualify as an independent contractor? I get a W-2 from them, but I use my own vehicle and tools for the job. Also, do you think it's worth talking to HR about changing their policy, or is this pretty standard for companies?

If you receive a W-2, you're definitely classified as an employee, not an independent contractor. The IRS has specific criteria for classification, but receiving a W-2 confirms your employee status, making Schedule C deductions unavailable to you. It's absolutely worth discussing with HR. While some companies do have similar policies, many others reimburse all business mileage or provide company vehicles for jobs requiring extensive driving. Their current policy of not reimbursing the first 90 miles daily is unusually restrictive and could be viewed as a commuting policy taken to an extreme. Approach the conversation professionally with your detailed records showing the financial impact on you.

Thanks for this explanation. If I understand correctly, I'm basically out of luck tax-wise for now? This is frustrating because I don't have a permanent office - I drive directly from my home to different client sites every day. None of these are "regular" workplaces. Does that change anything about how this should be treated?

That's an excellent point and potentially changes things significantly. If you don't have a regular office and travel directly from home to different temporary work sites each day, the IRS may consider all of your mileage to be business-related rather than commuting. Your situation falls into what's sometimes called the "no regular place of business" category. In such cases, transportation from your home to these temporary work locations might be considered business mileage. Unfortunately, while this strengthens your case with your employer, you still face the same obstacle with tax deductions because of the 2018 tax law changes. I'd recommend discussing this specific situation with your employer, bringing IRS documentation about temporary work locations versus commuting. Your employer's policy appears to be treating your first 45 miles as a "commute" when it technically might not be one under IRS definitions.

How does this actually work with the tax laws though? I'm confused because I thought the other commenter said employees can't deduct unreimbursed expenses anymore. Does this service help you find a workaround or something?

Did you end up getting any money back from using this? I'm in a similar situation where I'm driving about 120 miles daily but only getting reimbursed for about half. Wondering if its worth my time or if it just tells you what you already know - that your employer is being cheap.

The service doesn't create a magical deduction that doesn't exist - it works within current tax laws. But what it does do is clearly identify which parts of your situation might qualify for deductions you didn't know about. For example, if part of your driving could be classified differently based on your specific job duties. I didn't get a tax deduction directly, but I did use the analysis to negotiate with my employer. The report showed exactly how much I was losing compared to industry standards, and my company adjusted their policy. They didn't cover everything, but they reduced the "excluded" miles from 30 to 10 each way, which saved me about $4,200 annually. The documentation made all the difference in those conversations.

Did you actually get any money back on your taxes though? Because the first response said employees can't deduct mileage anymore after 2018. I'm in a similar situation and wondering if this would actually help with my tax return or just with negotiating with my boss.

I'm also curious how much this service costs? If it can't actually help with getting tax deductions (since those aren't available for employees now), is it worth paying for just to have documentation to take to your employer? My company is notoriously stubborn about changing policies.

You're right that it didn't directly help with tax deductions - those really aren't available for employees right now. What it did was give me professional-grade documentation to take to my employer showing that their policy was inconsistent with both IRS guidelines and industry standards. The value came when my employer agreed to reclassify my driving and started reimbursing me for nearly all my miles rather than excluding the first 90 miles daily. That translated to

How does this service actually work? Do they just call and wait on hold for you? Seems like something I could just do myself if I had enough time.

This sounds like a scam. There's no way to "cut the line" with the IRS. They're a government agency with established phone systems. I'm extremely skeptical that any service could get you through faster than just calling yourself.

They use an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When an actual IRS agent picks up, you get a call connecting you directly to that agent. It's not about "cutting the line" - you still wait your turn, but you don't have to physically sit there listening to hold music for hours. The benefit is that you can go about your day while their system handles the waiting. For me, it saved literally hours of being stuck on hold, and I could keep working while waiting for my callback. I was skeptical too until I tried it and was connected to an actual IRS employee who answered all my questions about mileage documentation requirements.

I never thought about checking the employee handbook - that's a great idea! I'll take a look tonight. My contract doesn't mention mileage specifically, just that they follow "standard reimbursement procedures." Do you think that's too vague to help me?

That "standard reimbursement procedures" language is exactly what you should investigate. Request the official policy document that defines those procedures - companies are required to have written policies for anything they reference in contracts. The details might actually work in your favor, especially if they haven't updated their policy recently. And don't rule out negotiation - when I was in your position, I calculated the actual annual cost difference (about $7,800/year in unreimbursed expenses) and presented it professionally to my manager. They couldn't change the policy, but they did approve a $5,000 annual "travel stipend" added to my compensation to offset most of the difference. Worth a try before looking elsewhere!

That's exactly right. Normal commuting expenses aren't deductible even for self-employed people. The key question is whether these are temporary work locations or regular places of business. If you're going to different job sites each day, that's different than going to the same location repeatedly.

This is really helpful! I think you've hit on exactly what I need to focus on. I definitely don't have a regular office - I get my assignments each morning and drive to completely different locations every day. Some are 30 miles away, others are 80+ miles. I never go to the same place twice in a week usually. Based on what you're saying about temporary work locations, it sounds like my employer might be incorrectly classifying ALL my driving as commuting when it should actually be business travel. Do you know if there's a specific distance threshold or time period that defines "temporary" versus "regular" work locations? I want to make sure I have the right terminology when I talk to HR. Also, would it help to get something in writing from my supervisor confirming that I have no assigned office location and that all my work sites are temporary assignments?

Great questions! The IRS generally considers a work location "temporary" if you realistically expect to work there for one year or less. If you're going to different sites daily/weekly and none are expected to be long-term assignments, that strongly supports the temporary work location classification. Getting written confirmation from your supervisor about having no fixed office location would be extremely valuable documentation. I'd also recommend requesting a letter stating that your work assignments are to various temporary client locations rather than a regular workplace. When you approach HR, emphasize these key points: - No fixed office or regular workplace - Daily assignments to different temporary locations - Current policy may misclassify business travel as commuting - Request policy review based on IRS Publication 463 guidelines You might also want to calculate the annual financial impact - if you're losing $300+ per week in unreimbursed expenses, that's over $15,000 annually. Having concrete numbers often gets management's attention faster than abstract policy discussions. The fact that you use your own vehicle and tools for temporary work assignments actually strengthens your case that this is business travel, not a regular commute to a fixed workplace.

This is exactly the kind of information I needed! I definitely check all those boxes - I receive my daily assignments via email at home, store all my work tools in my garage, do my paperwork and invoicing from my home office, and have zero fixed business locations. Revenue Ruling 99-7 sounds like it could be a game-changer for my situation. Do you happen to know if there are any specific forms or documentation templates that HR departments typically expect when employees request policy reviews based on IRS rulings? I want to present this as professionally as possible. Also, I'm curious - have you seen other people successfully use this approach with their employers? I'm hoping this isn't one of those "technically correct but companies ignore it anyway" situations. Thanks for pointing me toward this specific ruling - it feels like the first real solution I've found in this whole mess!