Commuting Miles vs Business Miles (2026): What Freelancers Can Actually Deduct

Q: What's the difference between commuting miles and business miles?

Commuting miles are the drive between your home and a regular place of work — they're considered a personal expense and are never deductible, no matter how far you drive or how much you dislike the traffic. Business miles are drives made for the business between work locations: from one client to another, to a job site, to the bank or supply store, or to a temporary work location. Business miles are deductible at the 2026 standard rate of $0.725 per mile on Schedule C; commuting miles are worth zero. The whole game is correctly classifying each trip.

Q: Can freelancers deduct the drive to their first client of the day?

It depends on whether you have a qualifying home office. If your home is your principal place of business — you have a home office you use regularly and exclusively for the business — then the trip from home to your first work stop and back from your last stop are deductible business miles, because you're traveling between one work location (home) and another. Without a qualifying home office, the drive from home to your first regular work location is treated as commuting and isn't deductible, though drives between job sites later that day still are.

Q: Are miles to a temporary work location deductible?

Often, yes. Travel to a temporary work location outside your metropolitan area is generally deductible even without a home office. And if you have a regular work location (including a qualifying home office), travel to a temporary work location in the same trade or business is deductible regardless of distance. A 'temporary' location is one where you realistically expect to work for a year or less. This exception is why a contractor with an occasional out-of-area job can often deduct that drive even though the daily trip to a regular site would be commuting.

Q: How do I prove a drive was a business mile and not commuting?

With a contemporaneous mileage log. For each trip, record the date, the starting and ending points, the miles, and the business purpose — 'drove to client site, 22 mi' or 'supply store run for job materials, 8 mi.' The purpose field is what separates a business mile from a commute in an audit. Log it the day it happens; a reconstructed year-end guess is exactly what the IRS disallows. Apps that capture trips automatically make this far easier than a paper notebook, but any method works as long as it's complete and made at the time.

Q: Can I deduct miles if I stop for business on the way to a personal errand?

Only the business portion, and only if the business purpose is real. If you drive from home to a client (business) and then continue to the grocery store (personal), the home-to-client leg may be deductible depending on your home-office status, and the client-to-store leg is personal. You can't convert a personal trip into a business one by adding a token business stop. The dominant purpose and the actual route determine which legs count, so log the trip by leg rather than lumping the whole loop together.

Published: July 20, 2026 · Reading time: 7 min

TL;DR: Commuting miles are never deductible — the drive between home and a regular workplace is a personal cost, full stop. Business miles — driving between work locations, to clients, to job sites, to the bank — are deductible at $0.725/mile for 2026 on Schedule C. The pivotal factor is a qualifying home office: with one, your home is a work location, so the first and last trips of the day become deductible business miles instead of commuting. There's also a temporary-work-location exception that can rescue out-of-area drives. The deduction always comes down to a mileage log with a business purpose on every trip.

"How many of my miles can I actually deduct?" is one of the most common — and most expensive-to-get-wrong — questions a freelancer asks. Deduct too few and you overpay; deduct commuting miles you're not entitled to and you've got an audit adjustment waiting. The rule itself is simple once you see the line the IRS draws. Here's exactly where it falls for 2026, with the examples that make it click.

The core rule: personal vs business travel

The IRS splits every drive into two buckets:

Commuting — travel between your home and a regular place of business. This is personal. It's never deductible, regardless of distance, traffic, or how work-related it feels.
Business travel — travel between work locations for your business, or to a temporary work location. This is deductible on Schedule C Line 9 at the 2026 rate of $0.725/mile.

Everything else in this article is really about correctly sorting each of your trips into one of those two buckets.

The home office changes everything

Here's the pivot point most freelancers don't realize: whether you have a qualifying home office determines whether your first drive of the day is a commute or a business mile.

With a qualifying home office — a space you use regularly and exclusively as your principal place of business — your home counts as a work location. So the drive from home to your first client and the drive home from your last stop are travel between two work locations, which makes them deductible business miles. This single fact can add thousands of deductible miles a year for a mobile freelancer. (Claiming the office has its own rules — see the home office mileage rule and simplified vs actual home office.)

Without a qualifying home office, the drive from home to your first regular work location is commuting — not deductible. Once you're out working, though, the drives between job sites, clients, and business errands that day are still deductible business miles. Only the first-and-last-leg treatment changes.

Trips that count vs trips that don't

Concrete examples do more than rules here. Assume the standard 2026 rate of $0.725/mile.

Deductible business miles:

Client A to Client B, then Client B to Client C
Home to a temporary job site across town (with a qualifying home office)
A supply-store or bank run for the business, mid-day
Driving to meet a prospect, then back to a work location
Home office to a temporary work location outside your metro area

Not deductible (commuting or personal):

Home to the same rented studio you work from every day (no home office)
The daily drive to a regular job site, even a long one
Client site to the grocery store on the way home
Home to a coffee shop where you happen to answer email

Notice the pattern: movement between work locations is business; home-to-regular-work is commuting; work-to-personal is personal.

The temporary work location exception

There's a valuable carve-out for irregular jobs. Travel to a temporary work location — one where you realistically expect to work for a year or less — gets special treatment:

If you have a regular work location (including a qualifying home office), travel to a temporary location in the same line of work is deductible regardless of distance.
Even without a home office, travel to a temporary work location outside your metropolitan area is generally deductible.

This is why a tradesperson or consultant with an occasional far-flung project can often deduct that drive, even though the daily trip to a regular site would be a nondeductible commute. The distinction is regular versus temporary — and "temporary" hinges on that one-year expectation.

Multi-stop days and mixed trips

Real freelance days aren't tidy. You leave home, hit three clients, swing by the supply store, and grab groceries on the way back. Log the day by leg, not as one loop:

Home → Client 1 (business, if you have a home office)
Client 1 → Client 2 (business)
Client 2 → supply store (business)
Supply store → grocery store → home (personal)

You deduct the business legs and drop the personal ones. You can't turn a personal errand into a deduction by bolting on a token business stop — the dominant purpose and actual route decide it. Parking and tolls on the business legs are deductible on top of the mileage — see parking and tolls.

Proving it: the log is the deduction

None of this matters without records. A contemporaneous mileage log is what turns a claimed business mile into a defensible one. For each trip, capture:

Date
Start and end points
Miles
Business purpose — the field that separates a business mile from a commute

The purpose is everything. "22 mi" proves nothing; "22 mi — drove to client site for install" proves a business mile. Log it the day it happens; the IRS routinely disallows reconstructed, after-the-fact estimates. You can keep a manual log if you're disciplined, but automatic trip capture removes the main failure point — forgetting.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between commuting miles and business miles?

Commuting miles are the personal drive between home and a regular workplace — never deductible. Business miles are drives between work locations (client to client, to a job site, to the bank or supply store, or to a temporary location) — deductible at $0.725/mile for 2026 on Schedule C. Classifying each trip correctly is the whole task.

Can freelancers deduct the drive to their first client of the day?

Only with a qualifying home office. If your home is your principal place of business, the trips to your first stop and home from your last are deductible business miles. Without a home office, the first drive from home to a regular work location is nondeductible commuting, though drives between sites later that day still count.

Are miles to a temporary work location deductible?

Often yes. With a regular work location (including a home office), travel to a temporary location in the same business is deductible regardless of distance. Even without one, travel to a temporary location outside your metro area is generally deductible. "Temporary" means you expect to work there a year or less.

How do I prove a drive was a business mile and not commuting?

Keep a contemporaneous log: date, start and end points, miles, and business purpose for each trip. The purpose field separates a business mile from a commute in an audit. Log it the day it happens — reconstructed guesses are what the IRS disallows.

Can I deduct miles if I stop for business on the way to a personal errand?

Only the genuine business legs. Log the trip by leg — a home-to-client leg may count (depending on home-office status) while the client-to-store leg is personal. You can't convert a personal trip into a business one with a token stop; route and dominant purpose decide it.

Authoritative References

Let the App Sort Commuting From Business Miles for You

The line between a commute and a business mile is simple in theory and easy to blow in practice — especially on a multi-stop day when you're focused on the work, not the odometer. CentSense logs each drive at the 2026 IRS rate of $0.725/mile, lets you tag the business purpose in a tap, and keeps every trip in a contemporaneous log you can export as a CPA-ready CSV — so you claim every business mile and none of the commuting ones. Start free with 10 AI scans a month — no credit card; the Solo plan ($5/month) adds unlimited scanning and mileage tracking.

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This article is educational and not tax advice. Consult a qualified tax professional about your specific situation.

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