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Business travel ideas to LA and Hawaii
- Thread starter SqueeGee
- Start date
See below but the takeaway for me is that I need to have a pre-scheduled appointment each day and document it.
From SBA.gov:
Travel, Meals, Entertainment and Gifts
As you know, most companies expense items such as travel costs associated with business, in addition to meals, entertainment and gifts. However, there are rules to follow for these deductions.
Generally, you can deduct all of your travel expenses if your trip was entirely business-related. These expenses include the travel costs of getting to and from your business destination and any business-related expenses at your business destination, including tips, cab fare, and other "life on the road" expenses such as dry cleaning. Meals are the only exception. You can deduct only 50 percent of your meals while traveling.
If your business trip includes personal side trips or extended stays for a personal vacation, you can only deduct travel expenses used for business-related activities. For example, suppose you live in Atlanta, and then went on a five day business trip to New York. You spent three days in business meetings, and two days sight-seeing and visiting friends. You can only deduct the costs of the three days you spent on business activities.
If you take your family on vacation to Hawaii, and conduct business there, you can deduct any expenses that are directly related to your business. However, you may not deduct the entire cost of the trip as a business expense.
From another site:
What Does the IRS Consider a Business Day?
Any of these qualify as a business day:
- a day on which you travel getting to and from your business destination
- a day when you spend at least 4 hours on business related activities
- a day when you have a pre-scheduled appointment
The first two are relatively simple to understand. Just be sure you have documentation to back up your travel, such as ticket stubs. On days when you are spending at least 4 hours on business activities, your activity log serves as documentation. (This is where your travel log or diary will help document your trip.)
On days when you have a pre-scheduled appointment, you have to be able to prove that you actually attended the appointment. How do you prove it? If you met someone for a meal and picked up the tab, the receipt from the meal serves as proof. Otherwise, you'll need to print out emails from before and after the trip to the person or people you met. The email from before your trips proves that the meeting was pre-scheduled. The email sent after the meeting (for instance, thanking them for meeting you) proves that you were at the meeting.
Count weekends, holidays, and other necessary standby days as business days if they fall between business days. But if they follow your business meetings or activity and you remain at your business destination for non-business or personal reasons, do not count them as business days.
Make Sure that Your Trip is Primarily for Business
You can deduct all of your travel expenses if your trip was entirely business related. If your trip was primarily for business and, while at your business destination, you extended your stay for a vacation, made a personal side trip, or had other personal activities, you can deduct your business-related travel expenses. These expenses include the travel costs of getting to and from your business destination and any business-related expenses at your business destination.
Example.
You work in Atlanta and take a business trip to New Orleans. On your way home, you stop in Mobile to visit your parents. You spend $2,012 for the 9 days you are away from home for travel, meals, lodging, and other travel expenses. If you had not stopped in Mobile, you would have been gone only 6 days, and your total cost would have been $1,712. You can deduct $1,712 for your trip, including the cost of round-trip transportation to and from New Orleans.
From SBA.gov:
Travel, Meals, Entertainment and Gifts
As you know, most companies expense items such as travel costs associated with business, in addition to meals, entertainment and gifts. However, there are rules to follow for these deductions.
Generally, you can deduct all of your travel expenses if your trip was entirely business-related. These expenses include the travel costs of getting to and from your business destination and any business-related expenses at your business destination, including tips, cab fare, and other "life on the road" expenses such as dry cleaning. Meals are the only exception. You can deduct only 50 percent of your meals while traveling.
If your business trip includes personal side trips or extended stays for a personal vacation, you can only deduct travel expenses used for business-related activities. For example, suppose you live in Atlanta, and then went on a five day business trip to New York. You spent three days in business meetings, and two days sight-seeing and visiting friends. You can only deduct the costs of the three days you spent on business activities.
If you take your family on vacation to Hawaii, and conduct business there, you can deduct any expenses that are directly related to your business. However, you may not deduct the entire cost of the trip as a business expense.
From another site:
What Does the IRS Consider a Business Day?
Any of these qualify as a business day:
- a day on which you travel getting to and from your business destination
- a day when you spend at least 4 hours on business related activities
- a day when you have a pre-scheduled appointment
The first two are relatively simple to understand. Just be sure you have documentation to back up your travel, such as ticket stubs. On days when you are spending at least 4 hours on business activities, your activity log serves as documentation. (This is where your travel log or diary will help document your trip.)
On days when you have a pre-scheduled appointment, you have to be able to prove that you actually attended the appointment. How do you prove it? If you met someone for a meal and picked up the tab, the receipt from the meal serves as proof. Otherwise, you'll need to print out emails from before and after the trip to the person or people you met. The email from before your trips proves that the meeting was pre-scheduled. The email sent after the meeting (for instance, thanking them for meeting you) proves that you were at the meeting.
Count weekends, holidays, and other necessary standby days as business days if they fall between business days. But if they follow your business meetings or activity and you remain at your business destination for non-business or personal reasons, do not count them as business days.
Make Sure that Your Trip is Primarily for Business
You can deduct all of your travel expenses if your trip was entirely business related. If your trip was primarily for business and, while at your business destination, you extended your stay for a vacation, made a personal side trip, or had other personal activities, you can deduct your business-related travel expenses. These expenses include the travel costs of getting to and from your business destination and any business-related expenses at your business destination.
Example.
You work in Atlanta and take a business trip to New Orleans. On your way home, you stop in Mobile to visit your parents. You spend $2,012 for the 9 days you are away from home for travel, meals, lodging, and other travel expenses. If you had not stopped in Mobile, you would have been gone only 6 days, and your total cost would have been $1,712. You can deduct $1,712 for your trip, including the cost of round-trip transportation to and from New Orleans.