Commuting vs Business Miles When You're Self-Employed: The Home-Office Rule Explained
General information, not tax or legal advice. Talk to your tax preparer about your situation.
Driving between your home and a regular place of work is commuting, and commuting is personal, not business (IRS Pub 463). The main exceptions: trips to a temporary work location in certain cases, and trips from home when your home office is your principal place of business (Rev. Rul. 99-7). Your log should label commuting separately.
For employees with one office, commuting is easy to spot. For the self-employed it's murkier: you might work from a home office, visit clients, stop at a job site, and end the day at a supplier. Which of those miles are business miles depends on a few rules the IRS has stated for years.
The baseline: commuting is personal
IRS Publication 463 says the costs of getting from your home to your main or regular place of work are personal commuting expenses, no matter how far you drive. That holds even if you make business calls on the way, listen to work material, or carry a passenger who is a coworker. Advertising on the car also doesn't turn a commute into business travel (Pub 463).
Trips between work locations are different
Once you are at work, driving from one work location to another, such as from your office to a client's site, is generally business travel (Pub 463). That's why a log entry needs a destination and purpose: the same road can be a commute in the morning and a business trip at noon.
The three rules in Rev. Rul. 99-7
The IRS set out when daily trips from home are deductible in Rev. Rul. 99-7. In plain terms:
- Temporary work location outside your metro area: trips between home and a temporary work location outside the metropolitan area where you live and normally work can be deductible.
- You have a regular work location: if you have one or more regular work locations away from home, trips between home and a temporary work location in the same trade or business can be deductible, regardless of distance.
- Your home is your principal place of business: if your residence is your principal place of business under the home-office rules of Internal Revenue Code section 280A(c)(1)(A), trips from home to another work location in the same trade or business can be deductible, whether that location is regular or temporary, and regardless of distance.
Rev. Rul. 99-7 describes a temporary work location in terms of work that is realistically expected to last, and does last, one year or less. Whether a location is temporary is a fact question.
When is a home office your principal place of business?
IRS Publication 587 explains that a home office can qualify as a principal place of business if you use it exclusively and regularly for administrative or management activities of your business and you have no other fixed location where you do substantial administrative or management work. Billing, scheduling, ordering supplies and keeping books are examples of administrative work Pub 587 describes. The exclusive-use and regular-use tests apply, so a spare bedroom that doubles as a guest room may not qualify.
If your home office qualifies, rule 3 above can make the first trip of the day, from home to a client, a business trip. If it doesn't, that first trip may be a commute unless rule 1 or 2 applies.
Three common setups
Consultant with a qualifying home office
Home office used exclusively and regularly for administrative work, no other office. Trips from home to client sites can be business trips under rule 3. Keep notes that support the home office's use, since the mileage treatment depends on it.
Contractor who rents a shop
The shop is the regular work location. Home to shop is commuting. Shop to job sites is business. Home directly to a temporary job site may be business under rule 2. Ask your preparer how your job sites are classified.
Real estate agent with a brokerage desk
If the brokerage desk is the regular work location, home to desk is commuting, while desk to showings is business. Days that start at home and go straight to a showing need a closer look under the rules above.
What to record so the classification holds up
- Each trip's date, start, destination, business purpose and miles (Pub 463).
- A label for each trip: Business, Commute or Personal.
- For a home office: what it's used for and how often, kept with your home-office records.
- For temporary locations: when work there started and when it was expected to end.
Form 4562, Part V asks for business, commuting and other personal miles as separate totals, so a log that labels each trip saves a year-end sorting job.
Why this matters for the numbers
Whichever deduction method you use, commuting miles stay out of business miles. Under the standard rate, 2026 business miles use 72.5¢ per mile for January 1 to June 30, 2026 (IR-2025-128 / Notice 2026-10) and 76¢ per mile for July 1 to December 31, 2026 (IR-2026-29 / Announcement 2026-11) (IRS standard mileage rates page). Under actual expenses, commuting lowers business-use percentage.
Example: 1,000 hypothetical business miles in July 2026 × 76¢ (IR-2026-29) = $760 at the standard rate; commuting miles in the same month add nothing. Estimates, not tax advice.
How CyberDeduct labels commuting
You set your home and work addresses once, and home/work rules and route templates label most trips Business, Commute or Personal; you tap to change any label and confirm the business purpose. Whether a particular trip is business is still your call and your preparer's.
CyberDeduct builds a mileage log around IRS Pub 463 from your Tesla's own trip and odometer data. You connect your Tesla account once through Tesla's standard account sign-in (OAuth); CyberDeduct never sees or stores your password. You confirm each trip's purpose and export a PDF or CSV log plus a Form 4562 Part V worksheet for your tax preparer. See how the log is built or see plans.
Frequently asked questions
Is driving from home to my first client deductible?
It depends. If your home office is your principal place of business, trips from home to another work location can be deductible (Rev. Rul. 99-7). Otherwise the first trip may be a commute unless a temporary-work-location rule applies.
Do business calls during my commute make it business travel?
No. Pub 463 says commuting stays personal even if you make business calls or carry business passengers.
What makes a home office my principal place of business?
Under Pub 587, regular and exclusive use for administrative or management activities, with no other fixed location where you do substantial administrative or management work.
What is a temporary work location?
Rev. Rul. 99-7 describes work realistically expected to last, and that does last, one year or less.
Does commuting count toward business-use percentage?
No. Form 4562, Part V lists commuting miles separately from business miles.
This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Talk to your tax preparer about your situation.
CyberDeduct is an independent product of LIKE LLC and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Tesla, Inc. Tesla is a trademark of Tesla, Inc.