Do You Have A Plan For Business Travel? – Foster Financial

Plan Ahead

From early on in life, most of us learn the value of planning. We’re taught you can’t succeed without a plan. We plan our days; we try to plan our lives. Of course, the unexpected does tend to happen. Even when the unexpected doesn’t happen, our plans sometimes either just don’t quite match reality, or we can’t do everything we need to do to make them work. One common reasons plans fail is simple lack of important, pertinent information. Take taxes, for example.

Of course, you know that if you own a business, business expenses are tax deductible. Did you know that there are some significant tax advantages that people sometimes miss out on due to lack of planning? For instance, visiting Hawaii would definitely make a great trip. But if you owned a piece of property in Hawaii, and visited to check on it, your trip, or part of it, could be tax deductible.

Also, if you own a business, you probably do business with a number of vendors. Or perhaps you have business clients. Next time you plan a trip, explore the possibility of visiting one or more vendors or clients you do business with. This could be deductible as well.

Plan your Travel for a Business

Travel for the purpose of attending a conference or business meeting is generally deductible. Most of the time, 100% of business travel expenses are deductible, including air or train travel, hotel expense, taxi, valet, and other ordinary, necessary expenses. This contrasts with meal or entertainment expenses, which are generally limited to 50%. But the IRS travel expense deduction rules are detailed and tricky, as noted by Wendy Connick, in this Motley Fool article. So, it is a good idea to seek expert advice to put together your business travel plan.

The best plans often include bringing in specialists, people who know more about a given aspect of your business than you do. They have spent years gaining valuable expertise, and utilizing their knowledge can give you the time and opportunity to focus on your primary business. At Foster Financial CPA, we specialize in business accounting and taxes. There is still time to take advantage of substantial tax savings this year. Please contact us at Foster Financial CPA for more specific information.

Source: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc511
Source: https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/02/27/how-business-travel-tax-deductions-work.aspx
Source: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/tips-on-rental-real-estate-income-deductions-and-recordkeeping
Source: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463
Source: https://markjkohler.com/plan-your-travel-write-offs-for-the-holidays-now/