JB, I like you a lot, so don't take this as a slam or a knock at your abilities. You are dead wrong. Schedule C is for self EMPLOYED persons. They employ themselves. And it is commuting if he does not have an office in the home.
This is why we have to document the OIH "regular and exclusive use" so closely for our clients, because the thing the auditor is normally trying to get rid of is the mileage, not the little bit of mortgage interest, depreciation and utilities that the SE taxpayer is getting on his office. It is the mileage that is the big ticket on that form. Establishing an office in the home opens up the mileage deduction.
Tom
Hollister, CA