Commuting Exp - Self Emp.

#13 02-13-2005, 11:50 PM

Seth Breidbart wrote:
- quote -

> D. Stussy <kd6lvw[at]kd6lvw.ampr.org> wrote:
> > Stuart Bronstein wrote:

> > > I haven't researched this lately, but I remember a case in which a
> > > traveling salesman had no tax home and was not, as a result, allowed
> > > any travel expenses at all.

> > A travelling salesman doesn't start from his home every day;
> > i.e. he has no tax home whatsoever and is ITINERATE.

> Not necessarily. He might well have a home that he spends,
> say, one week a month at, then spends the next three weeks
> travelling and selling, then returns home.

A residence is not necessarily (and for employees, usually
not) a tax home. [The employer's office - or the place where
an employee usually performs his work - is his tax home.]

- quote -

> The case in which there was no home was someone who spent
> every single day of the year travelling on business, and
> that would seem to be rare. (Based on the tax loss
> involved, he might well have been better off renting a home
> that he seldom used, just to have one to be away from.)

Irrevelent. It's not away from one's residence that counts.
It's away from one's tax home that does. Residence does
not equal tax home.

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#12 02-11-2005, 07:04 AM

Seth Breidbart wrote:

(among other thoughts.....

- quote -

> The case in which there was no home was someone who spent
> every single day of the year travelling on business, and
> that would seem to be rare. (Based on the tax loss
> involved, he might well have been better off renting a home
> that he seldom used, just to have one to be away from.)

The case you're thinking of just might be the one involving
an over the road trucker who slept in his truck and was gone
365 days a year, plus did not own a home, or rent one from
which to be away.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA
Thu 10 Feb 2005

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#11 02-10-2005, 05:32 AM

D. Stussy <kd6lvw[at]kd6lvw.ampr.org> wrote:
- quote -

> Stuart Bronstein wrote:

> > I haven't researched this lately, but I remember a case in which a
> > traveling salesman had no tax home and was not, as a result, allowed
> > any travel expenses at all.

> A travelling salesman doesn't start from his home every day;
> i.e. he has no tax home whatsoever and is ITINERATE.

Not necessarily. He might well have a home that he spends,
say, one week a month at, then spends the next three weeks
travelling and selling, then returns home.

The case in which there was no home was someone who spent
every single day of the year travelling on business, and
that would seem to be rare. (Based on the tax loss
involved, he might well have been better off renting a home
that he seldom used, just to have one to be away from.)

Seth

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#10 02-07-2005, 05:57 PM

Arthur L. Rubin wrote:
- quote -

> Jim Elbrecht wrote:

> > I'm curious about the "no home office". Where does the house cleaner
> > sit down to fill out schedules, balance checkbooks, answer phones,
> > contact suppliers, etc?

> To qualify as a "home office", the room (or defined section
> of a room) has to be used EXCLUSIVELY for business.

I always understood that to mean that otherwise you don't
qualify for a home office deduction. So, I do my
(self-employed) paperwork somewhere (usually at home), but I
don't have a home office that I claim for taxes. I still
consider that my tax home. Correct?

Aloha,

Maren
(self-employment is in addition to full time job)
http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/~maren/palms_etc/
specializing in Job's Tears in bulk and
fresh Gardenia Taitensis (Tiare) seeds.

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#9 02-07-2005, 04:22 PM

Jim Elbrecht wrote:
- quote -

> "Michelle Kapp" <smfwdf[at]comcast.net> wrote:

> > Self Employed does not have a home office. Goes to several
> > places a week as a house cleaner. Sometimes goes out of
> > town. Any of the mileage deductible?

> I'm curious about the "no home office". Where does the house cleaner
> sit down to fill out schedules, balance checkbooks, answer phones,
> contact suppliers, etc?
> I don't doubt that there isn't a space that will qualify for that
> deduction, but [and I'm asking for one of the experts to step in here]
> doesn't there have to be an 'office' someplace? And if that office
> is home, isn't the mileage then deductible from home to the job?

"Business use of home" can be more than a "home office." It
also consists of the storage space of inventory and tools.
The cleaning supplies constitute tools. Maybe there isn't
an "exclusive area" for this, but that is enough for me to
pin tax home at the residence. Without a qualified "home
office," I agree with the other answer: The first and last
trips are commuting, and mid-day trips between locations are
deductible.

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#8 02-07-2005, 04:22 PM

Stuart Bronstein wrote:
- quote -

> D. Stussy wrote:
> > Michelle Kapp wrote:

> > > Self Employed does not have a home office. Goes to several
> > > places a week as a house cleaner. Sometimes goes out of
> > > town. Any of the mileage deductible?

> > Only mileage between two work locations.

> I haven't researched this lately, but I remember a case in which a
> traveling salesman had no tax home and was not, as a result, allowed
> any travel expenses at all.

A travelling salesman doesn't start from his home every day;
i.e. he has no tax home whatsoever and is ITINERATE. In
this case, there is a nexus for a tax home: The residence
constitutes a regular and consistent starting place; i.e.
this taxpayer isn't itinerate. The only issue is whether
the "tax home" should be considered the entire local area,
and I conclude that it shouldn't be.

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#7 02-04-2005, 03:14 AM

- quote -

> > > Self Employed does not have a home office. Goes to several
> > > places a week as a house cleaner. Sometimes goes out of
> > > town. Any of the mileage deductible?

> > Only mileage between two work locations.

> I haven't researched this lately, but I remember a case in which a
> traveling salesman had no tax home and was not, as a result, allowed
> any travel expenses at all.

If it's the case I'm thinking of, he was on the road 365
days that year, so the court ruled he had no "away from
home" deductions because he had no home to be away from.
However, travel expenses ($whatever per mile, tolls, etc.)
should still have been deductible, because they were _all_
between work locations. (He couldn't have been commuting
since that implies travel to or from home, which he didn't
have.)

Seth

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#6 02-04-2005, 02:36 AM

Jim Elbrecht wrote:

- quote -

> I'm curious about the "no home office". Where does the house cleaner
> sit down to fill out schedules, balance checkbooks, answer phones,
> contact suppliers, etc?

To qualify as a "home office", the room (or defined section
of a room) has to be used EXCLUSIVELY for business.

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#5 02-03-2005, 06:44 PM

- quote -

> > Self Employed does not have a home office. Goes to several
> > places a week as a house cleaner. Sometimes goes out of
> > town. Any of the mileage deductible?

> I'm curious about the "no home office". Where does the house
> cleaner sit down to fill out schedules, balance checkbooks,
> answer phones, contact suppliers, etc?

I'm sure there's a degree of exaggeration that happens on
some 8829's filed, but the "regular use" test must be met.
This house cleaner may not have much in office duties to
perform. Supplies might better be bought at Sam's Club, and
if the "several" clients are weekly regulars, there's no
scheduling to do, nor anybody calling much.

I recall a white paper on a CPA firm web site, and their
opinion was at least a few days a week, and 2-3 hours each,
something like that. IRS says only that "occasional use" is
not a home office, and I believe that's all the Tax Court
has said so far, in cases w/o enough specific facts to come
up with a guideline.

Fred F.

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#4 02-02-2005, 08:19 PM

"Michelle Kapp" <smfwdf[at]comcast.net> wrote:

- quote -

> Self Employed does not have a home office. Goes to several
> places a week as a house cleaner. Sometimes goes out of
> town. Any of the mileage deductible?

I'm curious about the "no home office". Where does the house cleaner
sit down to fill out schedules, balance checkbooks, answer phones,
contact suppliers, etc?

I don't doubt that there isn't a space that will qualify for that
deduction, but [and I'm asking for one of the experts to step in here]
doesn't there have to be an 'office' someplace? And if that office
is home, isn't the mileage then deductible from home to the job?

Jim

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#3 02-02-2005, 07:40 PM

D. Stussy wrote:

- quote -

> Michelle Kapp wrote:

> > Self Employed does not have a home office. Goes to several
> > places a week as a house cleaner. Sometimes goes out of
> > town. Any of the mileage deductible?

> Only mileage between two work locations.

I haven't researched this lately, but I remember a case in which a
traveling salesman had no tax home and was not, as a result, allowed
any travel expenses at all.

Stu

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#2 02-02-2005, 06:43 PM

"Michelle Kapp" <smfwdf[at]comcast.net> wrote:

- quote -

> Self Employed does not have a home office. Goes to several
> places a week as a house cleaner. Sometimes goes out of
> town. Any of the mileage deductible?

From home to job 1 and from last job home in a day is
commuting. Mileage between jobs is deductible. So to get the
best deduction, work like a dog on one or 2 days a week
instead of spreading the jobs out.

--
Tom Healy, CPA
Boulder, CO
Web: http://www.tomhealycpa.com

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#1 02-02-2005, 06:43 PM

Michelle Kapp wrote:

- quote -

> Self Employed does not have a home office. Goes to several
> places a week as a house cleaner. Sometimes goes out of
> town. Any of the mileage deductible?

The last time I checked, without a tax home no travel
expenses are deductible at all.

Stu

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01-31-2005, 10:33 PM

Michelle Kapp wrote:

- quote -

> Self Employed does not have a home office. Goes to several
> places a week as a house cleaner. Sometimes goes out of
> town. Any of the mileage deductible?

Only mileage between two work locations.

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#-1 01-30-2005, 09:24 PM

Self Employed does not have a home office. Goes to several
places a week as a house cleaner. Sometimes goes out of
town. Any of the mileage deductible?

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