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Itemized Deductions Schedule-A


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Old 01-02-2014, 01:25 PM
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Work related travel expenses

I am employed in another state. My primary office is my home, which I work. Every other week I am required to be at the corp office for 3 days. Thus I work at the corp office 6 days out of every 4 weeks.

Can I deduct all of my travel related expenses or have the company reimburse me the expenses since I am not required to be at the corp offices more than 6 days out of every 20 work days?

Thanks in advance.



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Old 01-02-2014, 02:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboy59 View Post

#1;I am employed in another state. My primary office is my home, which I work. Every other week I am required to be at the corp office for 3 days. Thus I work at the corp office 6 days out of every 4 weeks. Can I deduct all of my travel related expenses



#2;or have the company reimburse me the expenses since I am not required to be at the corp offices more than 6 days out of every 20 work days?

Thanks in advance.
#1; As an employee who receives a Form W-2, you can deduct work-related travel expenses on your federal tax return. If your primary mode of work-related travel is your personal vehicle, the IRS allows you to deduct maintenance expenses, repairs, gasoline and tires on your federal tax return. You must keep track of your receipts and the amount of time you used your car for work-related travel. You can only deduct the percentage of your travel expenses for the time you spent using your vehicle for job-related events. These expenses must be itemized on Sch A of your federal return.
If you do not want to keep track of receipts or calculate the percentage of work-related travel expenses, you can keep record of your mileage to and from business locations. According to the IRS, you can deduct the standard mileage rate instead of car expenses. In 2013, the standard mileage rate is 55 cents, I guess. You need to calculate your itemized deduction by multiplying your number of work-related miles by $0.51.
Note; Once you have determined that you are traveling away from your tax home, you can determine what travel expenses are deductible. You can deduct ordinary and necessary expenses you have when you travel away from home on business. The type of expense you can deduct depends on the facts and your circumstances.
When you travel away from home on business, you should keep records of all the expenses you have and any advances you receive from your employer. You can use a log, diary, notebook, or any other written record to keep track of your expenses.








#2;It depends on your ER’s reimbursement poicy, I guess;in general, employee expenses reimbursed under an employer’s accountable plan are not considered income to the employee for federal income tax purposes. In contrast, employee expenses reimbursed under a nonaccountable plan are considered income to the employee and are subject to withholding.and you, as an EE, can deduct it on Sch A of 1040 as long as you itemize deductions on your return, if not, youd lose it.An accountable plan is a reimbursement or other expense allowance arrangement that satisfies three basic requirements: a business connection; substantiation; and return of excess amounts. The requirements of an accountable plan are applied on an employee-by-employee basis.even under the acc.plan, you need to report reimbursement exceeding your expenses as your income on your W2unless you give it back to your ER.so, you must return to the employer amounts in excess of the substantiated (or deemed substantiated) expenses within a reasonable time as long as you do not want them to be reported as your taxable income on your 1040.



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Old 01-02-2014, 03:08 PM
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Allow me to restate my question

The answer provided did not really address my question and I am going to restate my question to make it more clear.

I work from my home office in Florida for a company I work for in Georgia. Every other week I have to fly to Georgia and be in the Corp office for 3 days. (6 days out of every 20 work days).

Is there any reason my employer should not be able to reimburse me the travel expenses or that I could not deduct those travel expenses? Or does the IRS consider my corp office my primary work location, and thus my travel is simply my personal commuting expense which is not work related.



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Originally Posted by Wnhough View Post
#1; As an employee who receives a Form W-2, you can deduct work-related travel expenses on your federal tax return. If your primary mode of work-related travel is your personal vehicle, the IRS allows you to deduct maintenance expenses, repairs, gasoline and tires on your federal tax return. You must keep track of your receipts and the amount of time you used your car for work-related travel. You can only deduct the percentage of your travel expenses for the time you spent using your vehicle for job-related events. These expenses must be itemized on Sch A of your federal return.
If you do not want to keep track of receipts or calculate the percentage of work-related travel expenses, you can keep record of your mileage to and from business locations. According to the IRS, you can deduct the standard mileage rate instead of car expenses. In 2013, the standard mileage rate is 55 cents, I guess. You need to calculate your itemized deduction by multiplying your number of work-related miles by $0.51.
Note; Once you have determined that you are traveling away from your tax home, you can determine what travel expenses are deductible. You can deduct ordinary and necessary expenses you have when you travel away from home on business. The type of expense you can deduct depends on the facts and your circumstances.
When you travel away from home on business, you should keep records of all the expenses you have and any advances you receive from your employer. You can use a log, diary, notebook, or any other written record to keep track of your expenses.








#2;It depends on your ER’s reimbursement poicy, I guess;in general, employee expenses reimbursed under an employer’s accountable plan are not considered income to the employee for federal income tax purposes. In contrast, employee expenses reimbursed under a nonaccountable plan are considered income to the employee and are subject to withholding.and you, as an EE, can deduct it on Sch A of 1040 as long as you itemize deductions on your return, if not, youd lose it.An accountable plan is a reimbursement or other expense allowance arrangement that satisfies three basic requirements: a business connection; substantiation; and return of excess amounts. The requirements of an accountable plan are applied on an employee-by-employee basis.even under the acc.plan, you need to report reimbursement exceeding your expenses as your income on your W2unless you give it back to your ER.so, you must return to the employer amounts in excess of the substantiated (or deemed substantiated) expenses within a reasonable time as long as you do not want them to be reported as your taxable income on your 1040.



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Old 01-02-2014, 05:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Cowboy59 View Post



#1;Is there any reason my employer should not be able to reimburse me the travel expenses or that I could not deduct those travel expenses?



#2;Or does the IRS consider my corp office my primary work location, and thus my travel is simply my personal commuting expense which is not work related.
#1;As mentioned previously, it depends on your ER’s reimbursement policy, so I guess you need to contact your ER for sure.please read below.

#2;as you know, the time you spend driving back and forth between your home and your business is considered commuting, and the expenses associated with commuting (standard mileage or actual expenses) are not deductible as a biz expense. You cannot deduct commuting expense no matter how far your home is from your place of work. The IRS says that commuting expenses are personal expenses. Some commuting expenses may be deductible; you must establish that your home is your principal place of business. This is pretty easy if your home is your only place of business, but if you have other places where you work, you must show that: You use it exclusively and regularly for administrative or management activities of your trade or business, and You have no other fixed location where you conduct substantial administrative or management activities of your trade or business.Whether or not you claim a home office deduction does not have any relationship to the designation of your home as your principal place of business. Then, if you can establish that your home is your principal place of business, you can deduct travel expenses if you work at other locations. For example, a contractor could deduct travel expenses from his home office to a house where he is doing repairs in order to sell the property for a profit. Also Travel expenses between your home and temporary work locations (regardless of the distance) are deductible if you also have one or more regular work locations away from home.Expenses for travel between your home and other work locations are deductible if your residence is your principal place of business. What if you worked in Los Angeles and commuted from New York? Why should those expenses be part of your business? When you think of it like that, it does make sense.



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Old 01-02-2014, 07:33 PM
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So then…..

My employment contract with my employer states that I have to be in Atlanta 6 days out of every 20 work days. The other days my home is my office and principal place of work (I travel to no other locations).

So based on that information, is it reasonable to assume that my principal office is my home office and that I can consider the travel work related, which may be reimbursed, or is it considered personal commuting travel, in which case I cannot deduct the travel expenses, whether they are reimbursed or not?


Last edited by Cowboy59 : 01-02-2014 at 07:36 PM.


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Old 01-02-2014, 09:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboy59 View Post
My employment contract with my employer states that I have to be in Atlanta 6 days out of every 20 work days. The other days my home is my office and principal place of work (I travel to no other locations).

So based on that information, is it reasonable to assume that my principal office is my home office and that I can consider the travel work related, which may be reimbursed, or is it considered personal commuting travel, in which case I cannot deduct the travel expenses, whether they are reimbursed or not?

as mentioned previously, basically, general commuting costs are not deductible, but if you must travel outside of your normal metropolitan work area you can deduct expenses associated with that travel. If you work in another state that is not part of the same city or area in which you live, you would not deduct the commuting expenses around your work area. When you travel to your home and from your home back to work, you can deduct those expenses;however, as long as you have an office in your home that qualifies as a principal place of business/work, you can deduct your transportation costs between your home and another work location in the same trade or business; for example, if you travel outside of your normal work area for a temporary work assignment that isn't expected to last longer than one year, then the expenses you incur when traveling back home and from home to work again can be counted towards your deductible expenses. If your travel expenses are not reimbursed by a client or employer, you can deduct them from your federal income tax return.
So, aslong as you have one or more regular work locations away from your home and you commute to a temporary work location in the same trade or business, you can deduct the expenses of the daily round-trip transportation between your home and the temporary location, regardless of distance; so, your principal place of business is in your home. You can deduct the cost of round-trip transportation between your qualifying home office and your client's or customer's place of business. Taking travel deductions for work purposes can be complicated, so when you're not sure about specific tax deductions, talk to an IRS agent or a CPA/an IRSEA in your local area for your fed/state returns.
Note; when you are outside of your normal work area, there are other travel related deductions you may be allowed to take. If you work in another state from the one in which you live and your home and work area do not share the same metropolitan area, you can deduct some of the expenses you incur when you travel to your home and back to work again



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