You cannot deduct your commuting costs between your home and your main or regular place of work, even if the commute includes long distances or if you work during your commute. However, you can deduct business transportation costs.

Business transportation costs include travel by air, rail, subway, trolley, bus, taxi, carpool, and the like. These may also include the costs of operating and maintaining a car. For the most part, business transportation costs include:

--          Getting from one workplace to9 another in the course of your business within the city or general vicinity of your home.

--          Meeting with customers or clients (this includes the cost of parking).

--          Attending a business meeting away from your normal workplace.

--          Commuting from home to and from a temporary workplace, regardless of the distance, when at least one regular workplace is away from home in the same trade or business.

A temporary workplace is usually defined as one that lasts for no more than one year. If you work at two places in the same day, for the same or different employers, you can generally deduct the cost of commuting directly from one workplace to the other. If you do not have a regular workplace, but ordinarily work in the metropolitan area where you live, you can deduct your daily commuting costs between your home and a temporary workplace outside of your metropolitan area.

If you have a home office that qualifies as your principal place of business, you can deduct your daily commuting costs from your home to another workplace in the same trade or business. Deductible business transportation expenses do not include travel away from home overnight.

You can learn more about deductible transportation costs from IRS Publication 463.