The day before Thanksgiving is considered the busiest travel day of the year, as people fly, drive, and take trains to their families to celebrate the holiday. An estimated 54.3 million people are expected to hit the road on Thanksgiving Eve, according to Triple A.
What about if you are on the go for business during the holiday week?
Here’s what’s tax deductible for business trips:
- Airplane, bus, car, and train travel
- Includes tickets and gas mileage
- Travel arraignments to your hotel and/or work location
- Taxi, Uber, Lyft, Ride-Sharing services, etc
- Baggage fees
- Transportation to work while away
- Includes driving to and from your locations
- Includes public transportation such as subways and buses
- Accommodations
- Hotels and Airbnb
- Meals
- All meals while working or on the job
Other expenses you might not have thought about:
- Laundry/Cleaning
- Rental spaces necessary for your team to work in
- Communication
- Business calls/Internet Faxing
How do I differentiate what is considered “business” and “pleasure”?
- The expense has to be considered ordinary for your profession
- Traveling and making deliveries to and from to clients
- Expenses must be necessary for your business to operate
- Most of your time away must be at work
- More than half of your day needs to be working for it to be expensed
- The business trip is far enough away where you are unable to make a round trip without getting the necessary rest
What if I am taking a trip where I combine both business and non-business activity?
- In this case, the trip still needs to primarily for business. You have to be working more than you are sightseeing.
It can get confusing to determine how to expenses these trips. What’s good way to gage the type of trip you’re taking? Make a list ahead of time of what you plan to do. Once you have everything written down, determine if there are enough business-related responsibilities for the trip to qualify.
As tax professionals, we know how to properly classify these trips and are here to consult and answer your questions.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!
-Keith Boyer, CPA
