Mileage Reimbursement Scenario in California

Location:

• California. 

Context:

• I run a janitorial business
• My “office” is my home where employees will rarely need to come unless picking up special supplies. 
• My future employee will need to operate his own vehicle to and from client sites
• I’m planning to adopt the $0.70/mile IRS rate as my reimbursement policy.

Scenario: 

Typical day for an employee would look like this: 

• Employee drives from his Home to Client Site 1 (2 miles)
• Employee drives from Client Site 1 to Client Site 2 (2 miles)
• Employee drives from Client Site 2 to Home (2 miles)

There will be many instances where this schedule does not change for 6 months+ (i.e. employee services recurring clients)

———

1. Do I reimburse employee for the in-between mileage between Client Site 1 and Client Site 2 (2 miles @ $1.40)? ******this is the option I thought made most sense before asking ChatGPT******
2. Do I reimburse employee for everything, from home directly to client site, client site back to home? (6 miles @ $4.20) ******this is the option ChatGPT suggested given “the commute vs. business travel distinction can get blurred.”*******

Lastly, should my home office address be where the employee logs his mileage starting point first, instead of his personal home? 

Thank you.