Table of Contents
If you temporarily travel away from your tax home, you can use this chapter to determine if you have deductible travel expenses.
This chapter discusses:
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Traveling away from home,
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Temporary assignment or job, and
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What travel expenses are deductible.
It also discusses the standard meal allowance, rules for travel inside and outside the United States, luxury water travel, and deductible convention expenses.
You are traveling away from home if:
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Your duties require you to be away from the general area of your tax home (defined later) substantially longer than an ordinary day's work, and
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You need to sleep or rest to meet the demands of your work while away from home.
This rest requirement is not satisfied by merely napping in your car. You do not have to be away from your tax home for a whole day or from dusk to dawn as long as your relief from duty is long enough to get necessary sleep or rest.
Example 1.
You are a railroad conductor. You leave your home terminal on a regularly scheduled round-trip run between two cities and return home 16 hours later. During the run, you have 6 hours off at your turnaround point where you eat two meals and rent a hotel room to get necessary sleep before starting the return trip. You are considered to be away from home.
Example 2.
You are a truck driver. You leave your terminal and return to it later the same day. You get an hour off at your turnaround point to eat. Because you are not off to get necessary sleep and the brief time off is not an adequate rest period, you are not traveling away from home.
To determine whether you are traveling away from home, you must first determine the location of your tax home.
Generally, your tax home is your regular place of business or post of duty, regardless of where you maintain your family home. It includes the entire city or general area in which your business or work is located.
If you have more than one regular place of business, your tax home is your main place of business. See Main place of business or work, later.
If you do not have a regular or a main place of business because of the nature of your work, then your tax home may be the place where you regularly live. See No main place of business or work, later.
If you do not have a regular place of business or post of duty and there is no place where you regularly live, you are considered an itinerant (a transient) and your tax home is wherever you work. As an itinerant, you cannot claim a travel expense deduction because you are never considered to be traveling away from home.
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The total time you ordinarily spend in each place.
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The level of your business activity in each place.
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Whether your income from each place is significant or insignificant.
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You perform part of your business in the area of your main home and use that home for lodging while doing business in the area.
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You have living expenses at your main home that you duplicate because your business requires you to be away from that home.
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You have not abandoned the area in which both your historical place of lodging and your claimed main home are located; you have a member or members of your family living at your main home; or you often use that home for lodging.
Example 1.
You are single and live in Boston in an apartment you rent. You have worked for your employer in Boston for a number of years. Your employer enrolls you in a 12-month executive training program. You do not expect to return to work in Boston after you complete your training.
During your training, you do not do any work in Boston. Instead, you receive classroom and on-the-job training throughout the United States. You keep your apartment in Boston and return to it frequently. You use your apartment to conduct your personal business. You also keep up your community contacts in Boston. When you complete your training, you are transferred to Los Angeles.
You do not satisfy factor (1) because you did not work in Boston. You satisfy factor (2) because you had duplicate living expenses. You also satisfy factor (3) because you did not abandon your apartment in Boston as your main home, you kept your community contacts, and you frequently returned to live in your apartment. You have a tax home in Boston.
Example 2.
You are an outside salesperson with a sales territory covering several states. Your employer's main office is in Newark, but you do not conduct any business there. Your work assignments are temporary, and you have no way of knowing where your future assignments will be located. You have a room in your married sister's house in Dayton. You stay there for one or two weekends a year, but you do no work in the area. You do not pay your sister for the use of the room.
You do not satisfy any of the three factors listed earlier. You are an itinerant and have no tax home.
If you (and your family) do not live at your tax home (defined earlier), you cannot deduct the cost of traveling between your tax home and your family home. You also cannot deduct the cost of meals and lodging while at your tax home. See Example 1 that follows.
If you are working temporarily in the same city where you and your family live, you may be considered as traveling away from home. See Example 2, below.
Example 1.
You are a truck driver and you and your family live in Tucson. You are employed by a trucking firm that has its terminal in Phoenix. At the end of your long runs, you return to your home terminal in Phoenix and spend one night there before returning home. You cannot deduct any expenses you have for meals and lodging in Phoenix or the cost of traveling from Phoenix to Tucson. This is because Phoenix is your tax home.
Example 2.
Your family home is in Pittsburgh, where you work 12 weeks a year. The rest of the year you work for the same employer in Baltimore. In Baltimore, you eat in restaurants and sleep in a rooming house. Your salary is the same whether you are in Pittsburgh or Baltimore.
Because you spend most of your working time and earn most of your salary in Baltimore, that city is your tax home. You cannot deduct any expenses you have for meals and lodging there. However, when you return to work in Pittsburgh, you are away from your tax home even though you stay at your family home. You can deduct the cost of your roundtrip between Baltimore and Pittsburgh. You can also deduct your part of your family's living expenses for meals and lodging while you are living and working in Pittsburgh.
You may regularly work at your tax home and also work at another location. It may not be practical to return to your tax home from this other location at the end of each work day.
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For the federal government,
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In a temporary duty status, and
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To investigate or prosecute, or provide support services for the investigation or prosecution of a federal crime.
Example 1.
You are a construction worker. You live and regularly work in Los Angeles. You are a member of a trade union in Los Angeles that helps you get work in the Los Angeles area. Because of a shortage of work, you took a job on a construction project in Fresno. Your job was scheduled to end in 8 months. The job actually lasted 10 months.
You realistically expected the job in Fresno to last 8 months. The job actually did last less than 1 year. The job is temporary and your tax home is still in Los Angeles.
Example 2.
The facts are the same as in Example 1, except that you realistically expected the work in Fresno to last 18 months. The job actually was completed in 10 months.
Your job in Fresno is indefinite because you realistically expected the work to last longer than 1 year, even though it actually lasted less than 1 year. You cannot deduct any travel expenses you had in Fresno because Fresno became your tax home.
Example 3.
The facts are the same as in Example 1, except that you realistically expected the work in Fresno to last 9 months. After 8 months, however, you were asked to remain for 7 more months (for a total actual stay of 15 months).
Initially, you realistically expected the job in Fresno to last for only 9 months. However, due to changed circumstances occurring after 8 months, it was no longer realistic for you to expect that the job in Fresno would last for one year or less. You can only deduct your travel expenses for the first 8 months. You cannot deduct any travel expenses you had after that time because Fresno became your tax home when the job became indefinite.
Once you have determined that you are traveling away from your tax home, you can determine what travel expenses are deductible.
You can deduct ordinary and necessary expenses you have when you travel away from home on business. The type of expense you can deduct depends on the facts and your circumstances.
Table 1-1 summarizes travel expenses you may be able to deduct. You may have other deductible travel expenses that are not covered there, depending on the facts and your circumstances.
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Is your employee,
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Has a bona fide business purpose for the travel, and
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Would otherwise be allowed to deduct the travel expenses.
Table 1-1. Travel Expenses You Can Deduct
This chart summarizes expenses you can deduct when you travel away from home for business purposes. |
IF you have expenses for... | THEN you can deduct the cost of... |
transportation | travel by airplane, train, bus, or car between your home and your business destination. If you were provided with a ticket or you are riding free as a result of a frequent traveler or similar program, your cost is zero. If you travel by ship, see Luxury Water Travel and Cruise Ships (under Conventions) for additional rules and limits. |
taxi, commuter bus, and airport limousine |
fares for these and other types of transportation that take you between:
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baggage and shipping | sending baggage and sample or display material between your regular and temporary work locations. |
car | operating and maintaining your car when traveling away from home on business. You can deduct actual expenses or the standard mileage rate, as well as business-related tolls and parking. If you rent a car while away from home on business, you can deduct only the business-use portion of the expenses. |
lodging and meals | your lodging and meals if your business trip is overnight or long enough that you need to stop for sleep or rest to properly perform your duties. Meals include amounts spent for food, beverages, taxes, and related tips. See Meals for additional rules and limits. |
cleaning | dry cleaning and laundry. |
telephone | business calls while on your business trip. This includes business communication by fax machine or other communication devices. |
tips | tips you pay for any expenses in this chart. |
other | other similar ordinary and necessary expenses related to your business travel. These expenses might include transportation to or from a business meal, public stenographer's fees, computer rental fees, and operating and maintaining a house trailer. |
Example.
Jerry drives to Chicago on business and takes his wife, Linda, with him. Linda is not Jerry's employee. Linda occasionally types notes, performs similar services, and accompanies Jerry to luncheons and dinners. The performance of these services does not establish that her presence on the trip is necessary to the conduct of Jerry's business. Her expenses are not deductible.
Jerry pays $199 a day for a double room. A single room costs $149 a day. He can deduct the total cost of driving his car to and from Chicago, but only $149 a day for his hotel room. If he uses public transportation, he can deduct only his fare.
You can deduct the cost of meals in either of the following situations.
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It is necessary for you to stop for substantial sleep or rest to properly perform your duties while traveling away from home on business.
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The meal is business-related entertainment.
Business-related entertainment is discussed in chapter 2. The following discussion deals only with meals that are not business-related entertainment.
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Actual cost.
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The standard meal allowance.
You can use the actual cost of your meals to figure the amount of your expense before reimbursement and application of the 50% deduction limit. If you use this method, you must keep records of your actual cost.
Generally, you can use the “standard meal allowance” method as an alternative to the actual cost method. It allows you to use a set amount for your daily meals and incidental expenses (M&IE), instead of keeping records of your actual costs. The set amount varies depending on where and when you travel. In this publication, “standard meal allowance” refers to the federal rate for M&IE, discussed later under Amount of standard meal allowance. If you use the standard meal allowance, you still must keep records to prove the time, place, and business purpose of your travel. See the recordkeeping rules for travel in chapter 5.
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Fees and tips given to porters, baggage carriers, bellhops, hotel maids, stewards or stewardesses and others on ships, and hotel servants in foreign countries,
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Transportation between places of lodging or business and places where meals are taken, if suitable meals can be obtained at the temporary duty site, and
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Mailing costs associated with filing travel vouchers and payment of employer-sponsored charge card billings.
![Access by computer](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080920041741im_/http://www.irs.gov/publications/images/compute.gif)
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http://perdiem.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/perdiemrates.html. You can access all other foreign per diem rates at:
www.state.gov/travelandbusiness.
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Directly involves moving people or goods by airplane, barge, bus, ship, train, or truck, and
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Regularly requires you to travel away from home and, during any single trip, usually involves travel to areas eligible for different standard meal allowance rates.
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Method 1: You can claim ¾ of the standard meal allowance.
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Method 2: You can prorate using any method that you consistently apply and that is in accordance with reasonable business practice.
Example.
Jen is employed in New Orleans as a convention planner. In March, her employer sent her on a 3-day trip to Washington, DC, to attend a planning seminar. She left her home in New Orleans at 10 a.m. on Wednesday and arrived in Washington, DC, at 5:30 p.m. After spending two nights there, she flew back to New Orleans on Friday and arrived back home at 8:00 p.m. Jen's employer gave her a flat amount to cover her expenses and included it with her wages.
Under Method 1, Jen can claim 2½ days of the standard meal allowance for Washington, DC: ¾ of the daily rate for Wednesday and Friday (the days she departed and returned), and the full daily rate for Thursday.
Under Method 2, Jen could also use any method that she applies consistently and that is in accordance with reasonable business practice. For example, she could claim 3 days of the standard meal allowance even though a federal employee would have to use Method 1 and be limited to only 2½ days.
The following discussion applies to travel in the United States. For this purpose, the United States includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The treatment of your travel expenses depends on how much of your trip was business related and on how much of your trip occurred within the United States. See Part of Trip Outside the United States, later.
You can deduct all of your travel expenses if your trip was entirely business related. If your trip was primarily for business and, while at your business destination, you extended your stay for a vacation, made a personal side trip, or had other personal activities, you can deduct your business-related travel expenses. These expenses include the travel costs of getting to and from your business destination and any business-related expenses at your business destination.
Example.
You work in Atlanta and take a business trip to New Orleans. On your way home, you stop in Mobile to visit your parents. You spend $1,070 for the 9 days you are away from home for travel, meals, lodging, and other travel expenses. If you had not stopped in Mobile, you would have been gone only 6 days, and your total cost would have been $920. You can deduct $920 for your trip, including the cost of round-trip transportation to and from New Orleans. The deduction for your meals is subject to the 50% limit on meals mentioned earlier.
If your trip was primarily for personal reasons, such as a vacation, the entire cost of the trip is a nondeductible personal expense. However, you can deduct any expenses you have while at your destination that are directly related to your business.
A trip to a resort or on a cruise ship may be a vacation even if the promoter advertises that it is primarily for business. The scheduling of incidental business activities during a trip, such as viewing videotapes or attending lectures dealing with general subjects, will not change what is really a vacation into a business trip.
If part of your trip is outside the United States, use the rules described later in this chapter under Travel Outside the United States for that part of the trip. For the part of your trip that is inside the United States, use the rules for travel in the United States. Travel outside the United States does not include travel from one point in the United States to another point in the United States. The following discussion can help you determine whether your trip was entirely within the United States.
Example.
You fly from New York to Puerto Rico with a scheduled stop in Miami. You return to New York nonstop. The flight from New York to Miami is in the United States, so only the flight from Miami to Puerto Rico is outside the United States. Because there are no scheduled stops between Puerto Rico and New York, all of the return trip is outside the United States.
Example.
You travel by car from Denver to Mexico City and return. Your travel from Denver to the border and from the border back to Denver is travel in the United States, and the rules in this section apply. The rules under Travel Outside the United States apply to your trip from the border to Mexico City and back to the border.
If any part of your business travel is outside the United States, some of your deductions for the cost of getting to and from your destination may be limited. For this purpose, the United States includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
How much of your travel expenses you can deduct depends in part upon how much of your trip outside the United States was business related.
You can deduct all your travel expenses of getting to and from your business destination if your trip is entirely for business or considered entirely for business.
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Are an employee who was reimbursed or paid a travel expense allowance,
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Are not related to your employer, and
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Are not a managing executive.
Example.
You traveled to Brussels primarily for business. You left Denver on Tuesday and flew to New York. On Wednesday, you flew from New York to Brussels, arriving the next morning. On Thursday and Friday, you had business discussions, and from Saturday until Tuesday, you were sightseeing. You flew back to New York, arriving Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday, you flew back to Denver.
Although you were away from your home in Denver for more than a week, you were not outside the United States for more than a week. This is because the day you depart does not count as a day outside the United States.
You can deduct your cost of the round-trip flight between Denver and Brussels. You can also deduct the cost of your stay in Brussels for Thursday and Friday while you conducted business. However, you cannot deduct the cost of your stay in Brussels from Saturday through Tuesday because those days were spent on nonbusiness activities.
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You were outside the United States for more than a week, and
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You spent less than 25% of the total time you were outside the United States on nonbusiness activities.
Example.
You flew from Seattle to Tokyo, where you spent 14 days on business and 5 days on personal matters. You then flew back to Seattle. You spent one day flying in each direction.
Because only 5/21 (less than 25%) of your total time abroad was for nonbusiness activities, you can deduct as travel expenses what it would have cost you to make the trip if you had not engaged in any nonbusiness activity. The amount you can deduct is the cost of the round-trip plane fare and 16 days of meals (subject to the 50% limit), lodging, and other related expenses.
If you travel outside the United States primarily for business but spend some of your time on other activities, you generally cannot deduct all of your travel expenses. You can only deduct the business portion of your cost of getting to and from your destination. You must allocate the costs between your business and other activities to determine your deductible amount. See Travel allocation rules, later.
Example 1.
Your tax home is New York City. You travel to Quebec, where you have a business appointment on Friday. You have another appointment on the following Monday. Because your presence was required on both Friday and Monday, they are business days. Because the weekend is between business days, Saturday and Sunday are counted as business days. This is true even though you use the weekend for sightseeing, visiting friends, or other nonbusiness activity.
Example.
You live in New York. On May 4 you flew to Paris to attend a business conference that began on May 5. The conference ended at noon on May 14. That evening you flew to Dublin where you visited with friends until the afternoon of May 21, when you flew directly home to New York. The primary purpose for the trip was to attend the conference.
If you had not stopped in Dublin, you would have arrived home the evening of May 14. You did not meet any of the exceptions that would allow you to consider your travel entirely for business. May 4 through May 14 (11 days) are business days and May 15 through May 21 (7 days) are nonbusiness days.
You can deduct the cost of your meals (subject to the 50% limit), lodging, and other business-related travel expenses while in Paris.
You cannot deduct your expenses while in Dublin. You also cannot deduct 7/18 of what it would have cost you to travel round-trip between New York and Dublin.
You paid $450 to fly from New York to Paris, $200 to fly from Paris to Dublin, and $500 to fly from Dublin back to New York. Round trip airfare from New York to Dublin would have been $850.
You figure the deductible part of your air travel expenses by subtracting 7/18 of the round-trip fare and other expenses you would have had in traveling directly between New York and Dublin ($850 × 7/18 = $331) from your total expenses in traveling from New York to Paris to Dublin and back to New York ($450 + $200 + $500 = $1,150).
Your deductible air travel expense is $819 ($1,150 - $331).
Example.
Assume that the dates are the same as in the previous example but that instead of going to Dublin for your vacation, you fly to Venice, Italy, for a vacation.
You cannot deduct any part of the cost of your trip from Paris to Venice and return to Paris. In addition, you cannot deduct 7/18 of the airfare and other expenses from New York to Paris and back to New York.
You can deduct 11/18 of the round-trip plane fare and other travel expenses from New York to Paris, plus your meals (subject to the 50% limit), lodging, and any other business expenses you had in Paris. (Assume these expenses total $900). If the round-trip plane fare and other travel-related expenses (such as food during the trip) are $800 from New York to Paris, you can deduct travel costs of $489 (11/18 × $800), plus the full $900 for the expenses you had in Paris.
If you travel outside the United States primarily for vacation or for investment purposes, the entire cost of the trip is a nondeductible personal expense. If you spend some time attending brief professional seminars or a continuing education program, you can deduct your registration fees and other expenses you have that are directly related to your business.
Example.
The university from which you graduated has a continuing education program for members of its alumni association. This program consists of trips to various foreign countries where academic exercises and conferences are set up to acquaint individuals in most occupations with selected facilities in several regions of the world. However, none of the conferences are directed toward specific occupations or professions. It is up to each participant to seek out specialists and organizational settings appropriate to his or her occupational interests.
Three-hour sessions are held each day over a 5-day period at each of the selected overseas facilities where participants can meet with individual practitioners. These sessions are composed of a variety of activities including workshops, mini-lectures, role playing, skill development, and exercises. Professional conference directors schedule and conduct the sessions. Participants can choose those sessions they wish to attend.
You can participate in this program since you are a member of the alumni association. You and your family take one of the trips. You spend about 2 hours at each of the planned sessions. The rest of the time you go touring and sightseeing with your family. The trip lasts less than 1 week.
Your travel expenses for the trip are not deductible since the trip was primarily a vacation. However, registration fees and any other incidental expenses you have for the five planned sessions you attended that are directly related and beneficial to your business are deductible business expenses. These expenses should be specifically stated in your records to ensure proper allocation of your deductible business expenses.
If you travel by ocean liner, cruise ship, or other form of luxury water transportation for business purposes, there is a daily limit on the amount you can deduct. The limit is twice the highest federal per diem rate allowable at the time of your travel. (Generally, the federal per diem is the amount paid to federal government employees for daily living expenses when they travel away from home, but in the United States, for business purposes.)
Highest | Daily Limit | ||
2007 | Federal | on Luxury | |
Dates | Per Diem | Water Travel | |
Jan. 1 - March 31 | $365 | $730 | |
April 1 - April 30 | 289 | 578 | |
May 1 - May 31 | 278 | 556 | |
June 1 - August 31 | 288 | 576 | |
Sept. 1 - Sept. 30 | 338 | 676 | |
Oct. 1 - Nov. 30 | 375 | 750 | |
Dec. 1 - Dec. 31 | 381 | 762 |
Example.
Caroline, a travel agent, traveled by ocean liner from New York to London, England, on business in May. Her expense for the 6-day cruise was $3,900. Caroline's deduction for the cruise cannot exceed $3,336 (6 days × $556 daily limit).
Example.
In the previous example, Caroline's luxury water travel had a total cost of $3,900. Of that amount, $1,700 was separately stated as meals and entertainment. Caroline, who is self-employed, is not reimbursed for any of her travel expenses. Caroline figures her deductible travel expenses as follows.
Meals and entertainment | $1,700 | |
50% limit | × .50 | |
Allowable meals & entertainment | $ 850 | |
Other travel expenses | + 2,200 | |
Allowable cost before the daily limit | $3,050 | |
Daily limit for May 2007 | $556 | |
Times number of days | × 6 | |
Maximum luxury water travel deduction | $3,336 | |
Amount of allowable deduction | $3,050 |
Caroline's deduction for her cruise is limited to $3,050, even though the limit on luxury water travel is higher.
You can deduct your travel expenses when you attend a convention if you can show that your attendance benefits your trade or business. You cannot deduct the travel expenses for your family.
If the convention is for investment, political, social, or other purposes unrelated to your trade or business, you cannot deduct the expenses.
You cannot deduct expenses for attending a convention, seminar, or similar meeting held outside the North American area unless:
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The meeting is directly related to your trade or business, and
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It is as reasonable to hold the meeting outside the North American area as in it.
If the meeting meets these requirements, you also must satisfy the rules for deducting expenses for business trips in general, discussed earlier under Travel Outside the United States.
American Samoa | Johnston Island |
Antigua and Barbuda | Kingman Reef |
Aruba | Marshall Islands |
Bahamas | Mexico |
Baker Island | Micronesia |
Barbados | Midway Islands |
Bermuda | Netherlands Antilles 1 |
Canada | Northern Mariana |
Costa Rica | Islands |
Dominica | Palau |
Dominican Republic | Palmyra Atoll |
Grenada | Puerto Rico |
Guam | Saint Lucia 2 |
Guyana | Trinidad and Tobago |
Honduras | USA |
Howland Island | U.S. Virgin Islands |
Jamaica | Wake Island |
Jarvis Island | |
1For expenses in attending a convention that began after March 21, 2007.
2Not included in the North American area with respect to conventions that began after April 4, 2007, except with respect to nonrefundable contractual obligations in existence on that date. |
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The purpose of the meeting and the activities taking place at the meeting.
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The purposes and activities of the sponsoring organizations or groups.
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The homes of the active members of the sponsoring organizations and the places at which other meetings of the sponsoring organizations or groups have been or will be held.
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Other relevant factors you may present.
You can deduct up to $2,000 per year of your expenses of attending conventions, seminars, or similar meetings held on cruise ships. All ships that sail are considered cruise ships.
You can deduct these expenses only if all of the following requirements are met.
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The convention, seminar, or meeting is directly related to your trade or business.
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The cruise ship is a vessel registered in the United States.
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All of the cruise ship's ports of call are in the United States or in possessions of the United States.
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You attach to your return a written statement signed by you that includes information about:
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The total days of the trip (not including the days of transportation to and from the cruise ship port),
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The number of hours each day that you devoted to scheduled business activities, and
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A program of the scheduled business activities of the meeting.
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You attach to your return a written statement signed by an officer of the organization or group sponsoring the meeting that includes:
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