Qualified travel self employment expenses

[dsprague007]

I am looking for some help deciphering the tax rules for commuting expenses for self employment income.  If I have both w2 income and separate 1099 income where I drive from my home to the location where I earn the 1099 income as well as a few other photo shoot locations can I claim the commuting mileage from my home to the work location and back each day as a self employment expenses?  Sometimes I do some of the self employment work at home but mostly at the clients location.  Do I have to claim I have a home office to have the travel to the client's office as a travel expense, I am leary of doing this as I have heard claiming a home office is difficult to prove and is a red flag for and audit?

[physicianonfire]

You should not have to claim a home office to claim mileage when working a self-employed gig. Go ahead and include the mileage along with any other business expenses (camera equipment, lenses, software, etc...)