10 Most Commonly Missed Mileage Tax Deductions for Self-Employed Workers

Are you leaving money on the table? As a self-employed worker, every mile you drive for business could be a potential tax deduction. Yet many independent contractors miss out on valuable deductions simply because they don't realize which trips qualify. Let's explore the often-overlooked mileage tax deductions that could be saving you money at tax time.

1. Supply Runs and Material Pickups

You probably know to track your miles when driving to client locations, but what about those trips to purchase supplies? Whether you're a handyman buying tools or a photographer picking up equipment, these miles count as business travel. Everlance's mileage tracking software automatically detects when you're driving and creates a detailed log of your trips, complete with route maps for accurate documentation.

2. Professional Development Travel

Driving to conferences, workshops, or training sessions? Those miles are deductible! Even if the event is in your local area, the distance traveled for professional education counts toward your business mileage. The best mileage tracking app, Everlance, will let you classify these trips with specific categories for easier tax reporting.

3. Banking and Post Office Runs

Those quick trips to the bank to deposit client checks or to the post office to ship products count too. While they might seem minor, these routine business errands can add up to significant deductions over the year.

4. Networking Events

When you drive to business meetups, industry networking events, or professional association meetings, those miles are deductible. Everlance can help you categorize these trips separately from personal driving.

5. Client Meetings at Coffee Shops

Meeting potential clients for coffee or lunch? The drive there and back qualifies as business mileage. Remember, it doesn't matter if you meet in a formal office or a casual setting—if it's for business, the miles count.

6. Between-Job Travel

For those working multiple gigs or serving different clients in the same day, the miles driven between job sites are deductible. This is especially relevant for:

• Mobile beauticians traveling between clients
• Home inspectors visiting multiple properties
• Personal trainers going to different gyms
• Freelance photographers moving between shoots

7. Research and Scouting Trips

If you're driving to scout locations for future work, research competitors, or explore potential business opportunities, these miles qualify for deduction. Just ensure you document the business purpose of these trips in your mileage log.

8. Medical Supply Deliveries

Healthcare workers who make house calls or deliver medical supplies can deduct these miles. This includes:

• Home health aides
• Mobile nurses
• Medical equipment technicians
• Pharmacy delivery drivers

9. Business-Related Volunteer Work

While regular volunteer work isn't deductible, miles driven for volunteer activities that directly benefit your business may qualify. For example, if you're a graphic designer volunteering your services at a business conference, the travel could be deductible.

10. Temporary Work Locations

Traveling to temporary work locations outside your regular business area is deductible. This applies even if the location becomes your primary workplace for less than one year.

Don't Miss Out on These Mileage Tax Deductions

Tracking all these different types of business miles might seem overwhelming, but reliable mileage tracking software makes it simple. Here's why proper tracking matters:

• The 2025 IRS mileage rate will likely continue the trend of increasing deduction values
• Most self-employed workers drive between 1,000 and 5,000 business miles per year
• Missing just 100 miles per month could cost you over $800 in deductions annually

Best Practices for Tracking Business Miles with Everlance

1. Enable automatic mileage tracking to capture every trip
2. Use work hours detection to automatically classify business drives
3. Keep supporting documentation with Everlance's receipt capture feature
4. Review your monthly mileage reports in the dashboard
5. Let artificial intelligence help separate personal and business miles

Remember: The IRS requires contemporaneous documentation of your business miles. Everlance provides automatic, IRS-compliant records and helps ensure you never miss a deductible mile again. With features like:

• GPS-verified tracking with detailed route maps
• Automatic background tracking that saves users an average of 90 hours per year
• Real-time classification of business vs. personal trips
• Professional tax reports ready when you need them

Don't let valuable mileage tax deductions slip away. Download Everlance today and join over 3 million users who trust our mileage tracking app to maximize their tax deductions.

Pro Tip: While the 2025 mileage rate hasn't been announced yet, Everlance automatically updates rates as soon as they're released by the IRS, ensuring you always get the maximum deduction available.

Thanks for reading! If you want to automatically track mileage, keep in touch with Everlance to learn more about our mileage tracking software and to get notified when the 2025 IRS mileage rate is announced.