6 Month Consulting Contract & travel expenses
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2009-11-24 01:15.
Hi, I just accepted a corp to corp contract that will last 6 months but is located ~122 miles away from my home office. I'm currently commuting daily there and back. My business is an S-Corp.
My questions:
Can I deduct the ~244 miles per a day?
If I rent a room in the other city and stay there 3 nights a week, can I deduct the rent for the room?
Mileage from Home Office
Hi,
Typically commute mileage is considered personal, not business, mileage.
Travel from your office location to a client site is business miles.
If your S corporation rents an office outside your home, then the only way to deduct the mileage is to stop off at the office on the way to & back from the client site each trip.
If your S corporation is operating out of your home and it has some specific space that it's occupying, then your home office will qualify as your primary business location & you can be reimbursed for the travel between your primary business location & your client meetings.
This also means that the company can also reimburse you a prorated share of the upkeep expenses for your home... Rent, utilities, insurance. (Don't include Property Tax or Mortgage Interest, you can deduct these on Schedule A to better effect.) Do not rent space in your home to your corporation. The reasons are long & complicated. :)
On the apartment, I would say yes. Again this is predicated on the home being the primary business location and the out-of-town travel is an ordinary & necessary part of your business.
Although I wonder if a hotel would be cheaper, you're talking 12 nights a month. You might see if you can negotiate a better rate with a nearby hotel, especially if you can guarantee you'll be coming back for the next 6 months.
Drive safely!
L:)