Are you going on a business trip?
If you are going out of town primarily for business purposes, then your expenses may be tax deductible.
If you are an employee that is reimbursed by your employer for lodging, travel, & meals that occur while on a business trip, then that reimbursement is not subject to income or payroll taxes. You’ll want to be sure to save your receipts for your employer.
If you are self employed or are an employee that is not reimbursed for travel expenses, you can deduct 100% of all lodging & travel expenses (such as airfare and/or car rental), and 50% of meal costs.
Are you making a vacation out of a business trip? This may be a cost effective way to take a vacation. If you are already out of town, you might as well bring the family and enjoy it! Just be careful to keep good records of the expenses that are incurred for business purposes and the expenses that are incurred for personal vacation. The personal expenses are not deductible. Also, the portion of the expenses incurred for family members that don’t have a business purpose on the trip are not deductible. (If you bring your spouse and he/she is not an employee and does not play a role in the business, their portion of lodging, travel expenses, & meals are not deductible.)
While determining the portion of meal expenses that are business/personal may be easy, the portion of lodging & other travel expenses depend on the amount of time split between business/personal & the amount of non-employee family members that are brought along for the vacation portion of the trip. If you have any questions on what portion of travel expenses are tax deductible, please feel free to give us a call.
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