TIP OF THE MONTH - May 2007
TAKING YOUR SPOUSE ON THAT BUSINESS TRIP
Costs covering a spouse who accompanies you on a business trip are a favorite target of IRS auditors and you’ll have to prove that the spouse had a legitimate business purpose to deduct many of the expenses. However, this would not be true with respect to costs that would have been incurred regardless of whether your spouse came along or not. Thus, the cost of a rental car would be fully deductible. Similarly, the single person occupancy cost of a hotel room would be deductible. (Often this is identical or just slightly less that when 2 people occupy the room.) Also, you could pay for and deduct the cost of a single airline ticket for yourself, and utilize frequent flier miles to purchase a ticket for your spouse. Finally, if business associates invite their spouses to meals, you would be eligible to deduct the cost for yourself and your spouse with respect to those meals.