Employer has you drive all over metro

[KrillBee]

Has anyone ever been in this situation before? Currently I work as an IT contractor and am considered a full time employee (W2). We have multiple clients in different parts of the metro.

The way reimbursement for mileage works at my company now is that we are responsible for our own transportation to whereever the starting location is that day (depends on the client), but they will pay for any additional trips that occur in addition to that throughout the day.

The issue is, some of our clients are 25-40 miles away, which becomes a bit of a drive after awhile, especially during rush hour. I tried to live close to my job, but I'm finding that as an IT contractor, it's sort of an unrealistic dream because you don't know where your next job is going to be the next day.

At some point isn't the employer responsible for paying for travel expenses? I would think they'd have to be for the books to be correct if nothing else. Don't they have to document all business expenses? The irony is that up until 2009, my company did reimburse for some mileage. They said they would take the distance it takes for you to get to the client you spend the most time at (or the company headquarters if you don't spend more time at any one client) and then they'd reimburse for any miles travelled ontop of that. But this year they are no longer doing that, probably because of economic hard times.

 

[spidey07]

Deduct it from your taxes, exactly the way they used to do it. Anything above to/from your place of work you can deduct if you are not reimbursed.

 

[mugs]

It's not a business expense if they're not paying for it.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Deduct it from your taxes, exactly the way they used to do it. Anything above to/from your place of work you can deduct if you are not reimbursed.

He can only deduct the portion that's beyond 2% of his income, right?

 

[rezinn]

For this type of job, you either go into it knowing you will be reimbursed or you will not. I think you basically took a pay decrease this year by not getting reimbursed, but if you are paid for the time spent driving, and your clients are only a gallon of gas away, It doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

 

[KK]

I wouldn't think so, but you are always able to get another job that may reimburse you. Your mileage may be deductible on your taxes though.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: spidey07
Deduct it from your taxes, exactly the way they used to do it. Anything above to/from your place of work you can deduct if you are not reimbursed.

He can only deduct the portion that's beyond 2% of his income, right?

Probably a detail for the tax thread. I've always deducted ANY mileage that was not reimbursed and that wasn't on a 1099.

 

[dougp]

Many people have to drive 20-30 miles to their office everyday - they made the choice to live that far, and you're making the choice to take the job you have. They don't get reimbursed for their travel, and neither should you. The company policy is correct in that you're basically driving to the office in the morning and leaving in the evening. I'd personally be more concerned if your insurance will cover you when driving from job location to the other - a lot of people are not and need to be covered by the employer in a way.

 

[Pepsei]

tax code is funny... you aren't suppose to deduct mileage for driving to work everyday. however, since your work location changes.... that's probably different. i'd keep a log.

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Deduct it from your taxes, exactly the way they used to do it. Anything above to/from your place of work you can deduct if you are not reimbursed.

I'm not 100% certain, but his place of work is considered his starting location on that day. Since the company requires him to pay for his trip to the starting location, but reimburses him for any additional travel, he wouldn't be able to deduct it.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: spidey07
Deduct it from your taxes, exactly the way they used to do it. Anything above to/from your place of work you can deduct if you are not reimbursed.

He can only deduct the portion that's beyond 2% of his income, right?

Well he can deduct it, but it will be subject to a 2% floor. The form you need is form 2106.

Originally posted by: Pepsei
tax code is funny... you aren't suppose to deduct mileage for driving to work everyday. however, since your work location changes.... that's probably different. i'd keep a log.

1. Figure out distance from home to work (work as in office of actually company that employs you). Multiply by 2.
2. Figure out distance driven per day for work
3. Subtract 1 from 2 - difference is deductible

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: KrillBee
Has anyone ever been in this situation before? Currently I work as an IT contractor and am considered a full time employee (W2). We have multiple clients in different parts of the metro.

The way reimbursement for mileage works at my company now is that we are responsible for our own transportation to whereever the starting location is that day (depends on the client), but they will pay for any additional trips that occur in addition to that throughout the day.

The issue is, some of our clients are 25-40 miles away, which becomes a bit of a drive after awhile, especially during rush hour. I tried to live close to my job, but I'm finding that as an IT contractor, it's sort of an unrealistic dream because you don't know where your next job is going to be the next day.

At some point isn't the employer responsible for paying for travel expenses? I would think they'd have to be for the books to be correct if nothing else. Don't they have to document all business expenses? The irony is that up until 2009, my company did reimburse for some mileage. They said they would take the distance it takes for you to get to the client you spend the most time at (or the company headquarters if you don't spend more time at any one client) and then they'd reimburse for any miles travelled ontop of that. But this year they are no longer doing that, probably because of economic hard times.

So you're complaining about them not paying for your commute to and from work every day?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: jagec
So you're complaining about them not paying for your commute to and from work every day?

He has to have a "place of work" that is stationary. They don't have to pay for over that mileage although they really, really should. They do have to pay for anything above and beyond that and if they don't you get it back from your taxes.

This is NOT a benefit. You are paying for gas, maintenance, wear and tear on your car for doing your job. You need to be compensated for it. If they don't then tell the employer - fine, I'm billing hourly rate for travel by car plus mileage. T&E.

 

[tm37]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: jagec
So you're complaining about them not paying for your commute to and from work every day?

He has to have a "place of work" that is stationary. They don't have to pay for over that mileage although they really, really should. They do have to pay for anything above and beyond that and if they don't you get it back from your taxes.

This is NOT a benefit. You are paying for gas, maintenance, wear and tear on your car for doing your job. You need to be compensated for it. If they don't then tell the employer - fine, I'm billing hourly rate for travel by car plus mileage. T&E.

However when you are given a company car and based out of your house to do field work there is a computation that is done to assess what milage you "gain"

I use to live 2 miles from the office and if I left from the office I got taxed on the 4 miles.

If I left directly from my house I got billed for the other (I think it was 15 or 20 miles each way) this was for tax purposes.

That fact is currently we are in a time where the employers can pick and choose but it is legal. Unless you are required to go to the office and then the contracting place you are responsible for the milage and time.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend

Originally posted by: spidey07
Deduct it from your taxes, exactly the way they used to do it. Anything above to/from your place of work you can deduct if you are not reimbursed.

I'm not 100% certain, but his place of work is considered his starting location on that day. Since the company requires him to pay for his trip to the starting location, but reimburses him for any additional travel, he wouldn't be able to deduct it.

I don't think so. Example: traveling salesman working solely on commission. He may have to travel 100 miles or more to meet a client on a given day, without first checking into the office.

OP: whether you can deduct this or not is a great question for the tax thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2260195&enterthread=y

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: rezinn
For this type of job, you either go into it knowing you will be reimbursed or you will not. I think you basically took a pay decrease this year by not getting reimbursed, but if you are paid for the time spent driving, and your clients are only a gallon of gas away, It doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

I don't get payed for time driving. The clock starts when I arrive at the client and ends when I leave.

Originally posted by: dougp
Many people have to drive 20-30 miles to their office everyday - they made the choice to live that far, and you're making the choice to take the job you have. They don't get reimbursed for their travel, and neither should you. The company policy is correct in that you're basically driving to the office in the morning and leaving in the evening. I'd personally be more concerned if your insurance will cover you when driving from job location to the other - a lot of people are not and need to be covered by the employer in a way.

Everyone has the choice to live closer to where they work, work closer to where they live, etc.
But, you can't be everywhere at once, it's impossible.

I suppose the only way one could avoid this type of thing was if they chose not to work for companies that didnt reimburse for this, or if they quit when a policy change like this were made. The thing is though, that we need some people in these types of positions. The infrastructure of our world depends on IT people who are available to make visits to clients. If everyone quit their jobs over this kind of policy change, that would have a nasty effect on these companies, and probably run them into the ground, which would in turn weaken our infrastructure as that type of IT support was no longer available.

Originally posted by: jagec

So you're complaining about them not paying for your commute to and from work every day?

Exactly, because the starting location is not static. What's to stop them from telling me I need to drive out to a town 100-200 miles away?

Don't you see where this can get out of hand?

I suppose if it got ridiculous, I could just quit, but it's still bad practice on the employer's part.

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

OP: whether you can deduct this or not is a great question for the tax thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2260195&enterthread=y

I found the answer already 🙂

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p463/ch04.html#d0e3020

No regular place of work.
If you have no regular place of work but ordinarily work in the metropolitan area where you live, you can deduct daily transportation costs between home and a temporary work site outside that metropolitan area.

Generally, a metropolitan area includes the area within the city limits and the suburbs that are considered part of that metropolitan area.

You cannot deduct daily transportation costs between your home and temporary work sites within your metropolitan area. These are nondeductible commuting expenses.

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend

Originally posted by: spidey07
Deduct it from your taxes, exactly the way they used to do it. Anything above to/from your place of work you can deduct if you are not reimbursed.

I'm not 100% certain, but his place of work is considered his starting location on that day. Since the company requires him to pay for his trip to the starting location, but reimburses him for any additional travel, he wouldn't be able to deduct it.

I don't think so. Example: traveling salesman working solely on commission. He may have to travel 100 miles or more to meet a client on a given day, without first checking into the office.

OP: whether you can deduct this or not is a great question for the tax thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2260195&enterthread=y

I was partially correct. You cannot deduct for travel within the metro area in which you live.

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend

I was partially correct. You cannot deduct for travel within the metro area in which you live.

I wonder how they define the 'metro area', within cities like Los Angeles 🙂

 

[Mday]

The rule is ambiguous (to me) when it comes to your situation. Being a W2 employee does not afford you the luxury of expensing your drives through taxes as easy as an actual contractor. I suggest you log your mileage, and worry about it at tax time next year.

 

[CPA]

FWIW, you are NOT a contractor with you are a W2 employee.

Up until this year, they were actually doing it the correct way. Now, as others have said, you will need to include these as an itemized deduction on Schedule A, subject to a 2% AGI floor.

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: Mday
The rule is ambiguous (to me) when it comes to your situation. Being a W2 employee does not afford you the luxury of expensing your drives through taxes as easy as an actual contractor. I suggest you log your mileage, and worry about it at tax time next year.

If he was truly a contractor, which he is not, he could deduct all of this mileage expenses on Schedule C. But as a W2 employee and mileage above the mileage between his house and his "office" is deductible on schedule A, subject to a 2% AGI floor.