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A Tax Savings Guide to the Holidays: Tax Deductible Travel

Schedule a business meeting on the way to visit family and you can deduct some of your travel expenses

For many of us, the holiday season is synonymous with travel. Often very expensive travel. Whether it’s the ever-climbing price of gas or airfare for the entire family, travel expenses can certainly take a chunk out of your wallet.

You may be able to save a little money by scheduling a business meeting – for example with a client or a vendor – on your way to visit family and friends. This would allow you to deduct some of your travel expenses on your tax return.

According to the IRS, “travel expenses are the ordinary and necessary expenses of traveling away from home for your business, profession, or job.” You must be away from home for substantially longer than an ordinary work day and your travel or work must require sleep or rest.

These include

  • travel by airplane, train, bus, or car between your home and your business destination
  • using a car while at your business destination
  • taxi fare and other transportation between the airport/train station, hotel, and business destination
  • meals and lodging
  • tips related to any of these services
  • dry cleaning and laundry
  • business calls
  • other similar ordinary/necessary expenses related to the trip Continue reading “A Tax Savings Guide to the Holidays: Tax Deductible Travel”
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Can I Claim Moving Expenses on My Taxes?

You can claim a tax deduction for moving expenses as long as you meet several IRS requirements

Moving is a real pain in the butt, there’s no changing that. But a nice deduction from the IRS can take the sting out of it.

That’s right, you may be able to deduct the cost of packing and shipping your stuff as well as traveling and lodging (but not meals).

In order to claim these expenses, however, you must meet several IRS requirements that ensure your move was required for business. That’s right, not every move qualifies. You can only claim the deduction if you move to start a new job or seek work in a new city, and you can only deduct expenses that were not reimbursed by your employer.

In addition, you must pass two IRS tests: the distance test and the time test. Continue reading “Can I Claim Moving Expenses on My Taxes?”

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Business Travel Tax Deductions

Many of the expenses involved in a business trip are tax deductible

Those who have to do a lot of traveling for work will be relieved to know that you can deduct many of those expenses and thus significantly lower your tax bill.

What travel expenses can I claim?

According to the IRS, you can claim the “ordinary and necessary expenses of traveling away from home for your business, profession, or job.”

Be warned: the expenses cannot be “lavish or extravagant” in the eyes of the IRS. Obviously no personal expenses are deductible either. It might make sense to exclude questionable expenses from your return as they can increase the chance of you getting audited.

The travel expenses you can deduct include Continue reading “Business Travel Tax Deductions”