I worked at an agency where I was given a couple of choices as to my employement status in regards to how I wanted my benefits and reimbursements handled (and this choice came after I had been working there for about 9 months and they were giving everyone the screwover on changing their salaries to hourly wages). Being an employee meant full benefits at no cost, and my mileage being reimbursed only from the office to the client's home or meeting place. Any time I wanted to go from home to the client's home/meeting place, it would not be reimbursed because it was "commuting" miles. However, if I had decided to work as an independent contractor with this agency, I would get benefits only to have to pay for them (with no wage offset to make up for it) and ALL my mileage would be reimbursed regardless of where I started from. Of course, I stayed on as an employee, but how much easier it would have been to become an independent contractor there. But the mileage thing stuck in my head, and when it comes to officiating miles, I knew what I could claim.