One-Way or Round-Trip? Mastering Mileage Tracking for Notaries

For your mileage tracking as an independent notary, the general rule is:

Round Trip Mileage: You should track and report round-trip mileage if your travel originates from and returns to your principal place of business (which could be your home if you work from there).

One-Way Mileage: If you are traveling to the signing and will not be returning to your home or principal business location immediately, you would only track the one-way mileage to your destination.

In short:

• If you return home or to your office afterward, record the round trip.
• If you don’t return immediately (e.g., go to another signing or personal errand), just record the one-way distance for that leg of the trip.

There are a few exceptions to the general rule for logging mileage:

Commuting Mileage: Travel from your home to your primary office or regular workplace is considered commuting and isn’t deductible, so it shouldn’t be logged. However, travel from home to a client site (if your home is your primary office) can be logged.

Multiple Business Stops: If you make multiple business stops in one trip, log the mileage for all business-related stops, but not personal stops in between.

Temporary Work Locations: If you travel to a temporary work site (a place you’ll be working at for less than a year), the mileage may be deductible even if it’s closer to home than your regular place of business.