Estimated tax tip savings. If you spend $10,000 to investigate your competitors and improve your business, there is a way you can deduct these expenses in full. If you are in the 28 percent bracket, this gives you a tax benefit of $2,800 ($10,000 x 28 percent).

As a business owner in the modern world, you know that you have to constantly monitor the latest innovations to keep your business ahead of the game.

One way to do this is to visit rival businesses as a customer. These “undercover” missions give you a sense of how other businesses operate and may inspire you with ideas that you can use to improve your business.

With the right documentation, you can fully deduct the costs of these research expeditions as business expenses—even the amounts you pay for your rivals’ products or services.

The simple but essential key to writing off these investigations—be they pleasurable, grueling, or both—is to ... Log in to view full article.