Travel From Job to Job
By Julian Block
When you work at two different places, you can deduct any unreimbursed cost of travel from one place to another. This holds true whether you work for the same employer or you moonlight at a second job. There is a cap on the business-travel deduction if you do not go directly from one job location to the other, because of some personal reason – say, a stop at home to check on the kids. Your deduction is limited to what it would have cost you to go directly from the first location to the second.
CAUTION. The trip from your second location back to your home is nondeductible commuting, as is the trip between your home and a part-time weekend job.
TIP There is another stipulation that has to be satisfied before you can deduct unreimbursed employee business expenses, such as job-to-job travel, as well as most other miscellaneous itemized deductions. They are deductible on Schedule A of Form 1040 only to the extent that their total in any one year is above two percent of your AGI, short for adjusted gross income. Anything below the two percent of AGI floor is nondeductible. AGI is the amount of income subject to tax after subtracting such things as money put in traditional IRAs and alimony payments, but before itemizing for such expenses as charitable contributions or claiming the standard deduction.
Partial disallowance of certain deductions for persons with AGIs above a specified amount, which is adjusted annually to reflect inflation – $137,300 for tax year 2002. You suffer a partial disallowance of your allowable write-off for most itemized deductions, including unreimbursed employee business expenses and other miscellaneous itemized deductions. The disallowance is three percent of the amount by which your AGI exceeds $137,300 up from $132,950 for 2001.
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