Beware of online continuing education courses that claim you can participate in them at any location of your choosing (such as a fancy resort in Cancun) and deduct airfare, meals, lodging, and other expenses for attending. The problem with these courses is that you fail tax law’s primary purpose test for deducting travel expenses. Thus, to deduct a videotape or online course, the course has to be offered at the site.

Panama is now part of the tax-defined North American area where tax deductions are favored by tax law. For entry into this favored tax-deductible area, Panama had to agree to give the IRS and other government agencies banking and other information that otherwise was not available under Panama’s bank secrecy laws.

Learn the two special rules that make travel to a convention in Paris or other foreign destination tax deductible, or not.

If you travel out of town overnight on business, you need knowledge of the tax rules that allow and disallow such travel. This article clarifies the days that tax law deems to be business and the days that tax law deems to be personal.

How do you lose deductions to the IRS in an audit? Worse, how do you compound that loss of deductions by taking your case to court? In this article, see how one proprietor managed to do both.

Learn how you treat monies spent when your attempted purchase of a rental property fails. Tax law provides you with a path of special, mostly favorable tax rules.

Doing business in two different locations requires tax knowledge. The purchase of a town house in the second location brings up many tax planning opportunities and a few hazards to avoid.

Poor planning for the S corporation owner’s business expenses can cost the owner every penny of his deductions.

Proper business use of your timeshare grants business tax deductions.

When you know what you are doing, you can qualify trips to the Bahamas and similar destinations as tax-deductible trips.

If you operate one business with two operations in separate states, you need to know the rules to tax deduct overnight business travel between the two locations. You also need to know these tax deduction rules if you have two businesses in two states.

The Heineman case gives a roadmap to how a husband and wife might deduct the cost of attending a board of directors meeting where they are the only participants. Using the principles enunciated in Heineman, husband-and-wife corporate owners will find deducting the out-of-town board meeting easier than deducting board meetings that occur in town.

Most entertainment deductions are cut by 50 percent when you complete the tax return. Tax law grants a number of exceptions to the 50 percent cut. One exception eliminates the 50 percent and grants a 100 percent deduction to the party, facility, or entertainment that is primarily for the benefit of employees.

The first thing to get straight with the skiing deduction is that it is deductible as associated entertainment. Thus, you need a bona fide business discussion in a business setting before or after the skiing. If you are staying overnight, remember that lodging for business entertainment purposes is not deductible, but lodging for business education or meetings is deductible.

The law gives you no choice but to keep the proper tax records on a timely basis. This is pretty easy when you know what to do. One easy rule to follow is to never commingle your activities in your bank accounts. Both the rule that requires a mileage log and the rule that requires a time log are more difficult, but absolutely essential to proving your deductions.

You may deduct travel, meals, and lodging in an unsuccessful attempt to hire an employee.

Just as it has standard mileage rates, the IRS has standard per diem rates for daily travel costs. There are situations where you might benefit from the mileage rates and the travel per diems. This article explains how the per diem rules work for you as a self-employed taxpayer, and gives you the ability to make an informed decision on whether or not to use the per diem rates.

A new court case establishes that one-on-one training can count as a seminar for tax purposes. We show you how to do it right and be able to deduct 100 percent of a trip to, say, St. Thomas.

Contrary to popular opinion (and an IRS official), you can deduct gym fees when traveling for business. See the evidence and read how to deduct gym fees as travel expenses.

Learn from one taxpayer’s mistakes: know the details regarding seminars and training! Investors cannot deduct training, so you have to follow a few of our tips to help make one-on-one seminars deductible. Also, we give you important information about tax reform and tax changes.

It is surprisingly easy to deduct a trip to Canada, even if you only work one day while there. Use the sandwich rule, and you can deduct even more.

It is easy to deduct business trips within the US. We have a series of criteria and tips to help you plan your next (business) trip.

You need a solid plan when you want to combine deductible education with deductible hunting.

A continuing education group of dentists is going on a fishing trip to Alaska. We help them make the trip deductible by going over the nuts and bolts to make it substantive in scope and content.

This taxpayer lost $5,503 in meal expenses because she could not produce receipts or other records to prove the meal deductions.

Taking a cruise ship to Mexico for a business meeting is an acceptable, and deductible, form of travel.

Trying to deduct the expenses for a wedding? Good luck. We don’t think it’ll work. You’ll have a much better shot at deducting it if you can make it a business trip, and still attend the wedding,

Tax law divides conventions into two areas: the North American area and everything else. When you are outside the North American area, the rules do about everything possible to make your convention trip nondeductible. So, if your group is not a worldwide group, attend only conventions in the defined North American area. However, there are a lot of locations that count as North America in which you can attend a conference and deduct.

4% of Americans are audited each year. Do you know what two line-item expenses are most vulnerable to a Schedule C audit? Take our quiz and find out!

William Lenihan, a well-educated tax lawyer, lost every deduction he claimed on both his Schedule C consulting business and his Schedule E rental businesses because he did not keep good records. Know the law! Keep good records!

Ask yourself two questions: First, would you like to take a cruise? Second, would you like to get a tax deduction for the cost of your cruise? If you answered “yes” to both questions, this article is for you.

When you combine business and personal travel, tax law contains specific rules on what you can and cannot count as a business day. These rules determine if your transportation, lodging, and meal costs are deductible in full, partially deductible, or not deductible at all.

Section 274 is merciless. You need a mileage log and the required elements that prove your overnight stays. Having your CPA prepare these records after the fact fails.

This real estate boot camp deduction is allowed to the taxpayer who is classified as being “in the business” of renting real estate, but not to the taxpayer classified as an “investor in real estate.”

When you win a top producer award trip to a fancy resort or location, create educational events for yourself to qualify your trip for business travel deductions. When you get this right, you offset the 1099 award value with bona fide business travel expenses.

Meals served to your employees and independent contractors at training sessions and incentive award trips are subject to the 50 percent cut that applies to entertainment and meals. To qualify for a 100 percent deduction, you need to include the meal as compensation to the employee or independent contractor. That’s what many Fortune 500 companies do.

Your business motor home is either a lodging facility, like a hotel, or a transportation vehicle. Regardless of classification as a vehicle or hotel, your motor home probably qualifies for Section 179 expensing. Also, regardless of classification as a vehicle or hotel, you should keep at least a 90-day log of use to prove your business percent of use.

Not filing your tax returns on time because you lost or misplaced your tax records is going to make your tax life miserable. The trouble is so bad that you need to consider an “offer in compromise.”

Golf does not qualify as a deductible expense just because you talk about business on the golf course. Golf does qualify for a deduction as associated entertainment when you have the right business discussion in a valid business setting before or after the golf, generally the same day.

When you start a new business activity or you do a business activity on the side, you must establish a profit motive. One easy way to demonstrate the profit motive is to show the time you spend on the activity. This taxpayer had no proof of time worked, so he looked suspicious to the court.

Making a lot of money is no excuse for keeping bad records. Top off the bad records with failing to give adequate documentation to your CPA and you add to your misery index with negligence penalties. The taxpayer in this court case had to shell out about $5 million in taxes and over $1 million in penalties.

The law requires the taxpayer to maintain records sufficient to establish his income and deductions. In select circumstances, estimates provide a rational basis for deductions. With respect to vehicle, entertainment, meals, travel, and gifts; estimates are out and neither the court nor the IRS may grant your deductions without the prescribed records.

In 1935, the self-employment tax topped out at $60. In 2006, the first part of the self-employment tax tops out at $14,413, but the 2.9 percent Medicare part continues after that without limits. Good tax planning for the self-employment tax is like an annuity. It gives you monetary returns—year after year—every year you are in business. So, plan now and consider everything from choice of entity to hiring your children.