Excessive itemized deductions

[Burke]

I agree. No deduction for all those miles. He chooses where he lives. His job is in another city. Had the same sort of situation with a guy who worked for years here for one company headquartered in another state. They eliminated the position but offered him same job out of their headquarters. He elected to commute for 3 yrs not to lose his retirement benefits. Rented house and flew up and back every 2 weeks. Could not deduct a dime.

[Black Bart]

But...

I agree. No deduction for all those miles. He chooses where he lives. His job is in another city. Had the same sort of situation with a guy who worked for years here for one company headquartered in another state. They eliminated the position but offered him same job out of their headquarters. He elected to commute for 3 yrs not to lose his retirement benefits. Rented house and flew up and back every 2 weeks. Could not deduct a dime.

as a practical matter, it can be and is done. It just depends on who they pick for a tax preparer.

About 20 years ago I had a similar "tax home" case. A long-time client took an out of state job; rented a house there, took his family with him, and only came back occasionally. I know he did not sell or rent his house but may have let relatives stay there free to keep it from falling apart.

I wouldn't deduct the travel so he consulted a CPA there who said if he retained ownership of the Arkansas house he was "away from home" -- that deducting rent, food, and living expenses would be "no problem." Maybe he misunderstood her, I don't know -- anyway I disagreed and gave him his records.

I ran into a few years later; he said they were still "writing off" travel expenses in upper-teen thousands (pretty high for those days) and had never had any trouble. I knew him to be a truthful, honest person and didn't doubt his story.

He stayed about ten years, then moved back but continued to have someone else do his taxes. The upshot of it is, in my view, that I lost him because he simply figured I didn't know what I was talking about since (1) I was not a CPA (2) a CPA told him it was deductible (3-most important) he was never checked.

We're still friends, but it's kind of sad in a way 'cause it's one of those things that never gets fixed. I imagine that if somebody ever asked him about me as a tax preparer, he'd probably say "Well, he's a nice guy, but he doesn't know as much about taxes as a CPA -- you'd probably be better off going to one of them."

[ChEAr$]

down and scrutinize it a little closer, what about this?:

Although he works for the same company all the time, ..........

Then I'll bet a dollar to an Arkansas donut that the company reimburses him mileage if he
has to drive his personal vehicle out of town. Probably they furnish the transportation.
Has he attested that neither of these scenarios is the case? IRS would ask that upon audit.

[FEDUKE404]

Wanting to deduct everything

I absolutely despise these types of returns.

Truth be known, the guy is not really going to a "temporary" job location (this week you go to City X but next week you will resume working here in City Z).

He is more likely going to where the work is = his "tax home" = all is non-deductible commuting.

Other issue, as noted, is that weekend trips "home" are personal and not business.

But many folks, especially in construction work, think that every mile they put on their truck is deductible. Adding insult to injury is when the client walks in my door after his previous "tax professional" gave him all those round-zero miles without asking any of the relevant questions and/or asking for records. Frequently the client WAS getting some kind of consideration/reimbursement, but just kinda "overlooked" that aspect of things.

Also: In the "old days" the IRS could classify such a person as an itinerant. If push comes to shove, they may still take that approach. That would certainly take the wind out of their "business travel" sails.

FE