Glossary
What is Business Mileage Deduction?
Definition
The business mileage deduction lets self-employed individuals deduct driving for business purposes at a per-mile rate set annually by the IRS. For 2024, the rate is 58.5¢/mile. Alternatively, the actual-expense method deducts a business-use percentage of gas, insurance, repairs, and depreciation.
The trip must have a business purpose. Client meetings, conferences, supply runs, and client-site visits qualify. Commuting from home to a regular workspace (even a rented co-working day pass) does not.
Why it matters
- A freelancer driving 6,000 business miles per year deducts ~$3,510 at 2024 rates. At a 30% combined rate, that's $1,053 in tax savings.
- Standard mileage wins for most freelancers in normal vehicles. Actual expenses win only for luxury vehicles with high depreciation.
- Without a contemporaneous log, the deduction is often disallowed in an audit. This is one of the most common audit rejections.
Best practices for Mileage Deduction
Use an app for the log, not memory
MileIQ, Hustlay's mileage tab, or a dedicated spreadsheet updated within a week of each trip. The IRS rejects reconstructed logs done months later.
Record date, miles, starting/ending location, business purpose
Every trip entry needs all four. 'Client meeting' isn't enough — 'Client Acme Co., quarterly review, 14 mi round trip' is the standard.
Don't mix commuting and business mileage
A trip from home to a regular co-working space you rent daily is commuting. A trip from home to a one-off client site is business. Log only the business ones.
FAQ
Can I deduct the drive to my co-working space?
Usually not. If you rent a co-working day pass regularly, the trip is treated as commuting. One exception: if your principal place of business is the home office and the co-working is a temporary work site for specific projects.
What about parking and tolls?
Parking fees and tolls incurred on business trips are deductible in addition to the mileage rate, not instead of it.
Ready to stop forgetting the log?
Hustlay's mileage tab logs date, miles, location, and business purpose — tags each entry to a project for profit-per-project math, and exports a clean log for Schedule C line 9.