2 Offices

[AZ-Tax]

If I am understanding page 10-2 of the TTB graph, if the SE has a home office and a commercial office, the mileage between the 2 locations is a vehicle expense. Correct?

If so then this mileage between home office and the commercial office would NOT be considered commuting, Correct?

[Bees Knees]

That is correct. The problem is, how do you get Office in Home when you have another location? The office in home must be your principal place of business to qualify. There are some exceptions, such as those who meet with clients in the Office in Home (see TTB page 5-15). A tax preparer would qualify if the home office is exclusively used for business and tax clients come to the home office for interviews. However, if you meet all your clients at a commercial office site, your commercial office site is where you spend most of your time, and you only use your home office to prepare tax returns but never meet clients there (or such meetings are not a substantial part of your business), then your home office would not qualify as it is not your principal place of business.

[Bees Knees]

I should clarify, however, that there is a difference between meeting the Office in Home rules for purposes of claiming an Office in Home deduction, verses the Principal Place of Business rules for claiming mileage. Your Office in Home could qualify as your Principal Place of Business even though you fail an Office in Home deduction rule. For example, you are a tax preparer; your home office is your only work location, you meet clients there, but you also use your home office to do your personal finances and other personal stuff not having anything to do with business. The Office in Home deduction fails because the Home Office is not exclusively used for business. However, it is still your Principal Place of Business for purposes of claiming a mileage deduction.

TTB page 10-5 says:

Office in the home. If an office in the home qualifies as a principal
place of business, daily transportation costs between home and
another work location in the same trade or business is deductible.
See Business Use of Home in Tab 5 for business use of home rules.

Example: Susan is self-employed and does bookkeeping and payroll for
several local businesses. She has a home office used exclusively for
business where she performs most of her work. On various occasions,
she must travel to the post office to mail things for clients, travel to
office supply stores to pick up supplies, and travel to client business
locations to pick up and drop off work. The round trip cost of each of
these is deductible.

.

The wording “principal place of business” is right out of IRS Pub 463 on page 15 under Office in the home. I interpret that to mean as long as your home office is your “principal place of business,” then you can claim commuting costs between home and another work location, even if for some other reason your home office does not qualify for a home office deduction.