I live in Austin, Texas and was in San Francisco for a few days on business, and had a vacation in Europe planned right after that. In order to save me some traveling time and money (I am self-employed) I flew to my vacation destination (Germany) directly from San Francisco instead of stopping in Austin. My question now, is that flight considered a business related expense, at least partially? I know that that the flight from Austin to SFO is a business expense... but not sure about the return flight.
First I would absolutely suggest you talk to a CPA to ask this question.
My gut says that the portion of your airfare that would have covered a round-trip airfare between Austin and San Francisco is deductible but I have no idea how you would prove that and like I said, you need to ask a CPA.
Depends how conservative or aggressive you want to be. I am also self-employed, and in your case I would probably take 2 times the Austin - SFO ticket as a deduction on the basis that it is a reasonable apportionment of your ticket. After all, you did eventually wind up flying to Austin, and the Germany part is clearly not business, but the rest is. Just document what you did and what your rationale was, stick it in your file, and deduct away!
Anne
Posts: 338 | Location: Louisiana | Registered: 01 May 2005
Originally posted by Anneo123: Depends how conservative or aggressive you want to be. I am also self-employed, and in your case I would probably take 2 times the Austin - SFO ticket as a deduction on the basis that it is a reasonable apportionment of your ticket. After all, you did eventually wind up flying to Austin, and the Germany part is clearly not business, but the rest is. Just document what you did and what your rationale was, stick it in your file, and deduct away!
