The tax-relief industry loves to make IRS problems sound impossible without them. They're not. I'm Darrin Mish. I've been representing taxpayers before the IRS for 32 years. Let me explain how this actually works.<\/p>\n
Going for a trip and want to reduce your expenses without cutting down on the benefits?\u00a0 Make your trip tax deductible.\u00a0 I know what you\u2019re probably thinking.\u00a0 \u201cTax deductible trips are only for business, so how can I deduct expenses of a non-business trip from my taxes?\u201d\u00a0 Make it into a business one!<\/p>\n
The most important thing to do is to keep excellent records and document your business intentions, business purpose, and business-related activities in your trip.\u00a0 Sally (not her real name) is a film set designer who always wanted to visit China.\u00a0 So to make it worth it, she found a way to go there and write off the expenses from her income tax.\u00a0 She found a movie producer who wanted to make a documentary in China and suggested a joint venture.\u00a0 Once the deal was agreed upon, Sally went to work making the necessary contacts in China \u2013 the embassy, museums, influential people etc.\u00a0 With the help of the embassy, Sally arranged to visit places she could photograph along with a friend.<\/p>\n
As a result of her trip to China, Sally had compiled a detailed journal of rooms, homes, offices, gardens, restaurants, nightclubs, museums, etc.\u00a0 Sally had pictures and samples of fabrics, and contacts with suppliers.\u00a0 Through these detailed documents and photographs, Sally could show that the trip was primarily a business one even though she and her friend thoroughly enjoyed themselves.<\/p>\n
In order to write off expenses from a trip on your taxes like Sally did, you should first of all plan where you would like to go and when.\u00a0 Then look for business-related activities in that place during the time of your visit like seminars, conferences, workshops, trade shows etc.\u00a0 If there aren\u2019t any, you can try organizing some business activity yourself.\u00a0 Think about how your business or boss might benefit from someone or something in that place you intend to visit.\u00a0 For instance, you could arrange to tour a factory, or university, or studio?\u00a0 Are there experts who live in the area you could arrange to meet?\u00a0 Alternatively, you could arrange for people to meet with you instead.<\/p>\n
If you take a few key clients away to a destination of your choice for a week-long seminar and charge a fee for attendance, you may even make a profit for your business on top of having the expenses written off in your taxes.<\/p>\n
You will increase the chances of your tax deductions being approved by the IRS if you keep detailed records of every aspect of your trips (including how much money you make out of it, if any).\u00a0 Print out the correspondence, research, itinerary etc.\u00a0 Journal all your activities during your trip, anything that shows you conducted business.<\/p>\n