Making gifts to promote your business is complicated by time, inflation, and poor tax legislation. Make sure you know the rules so that you keep your tax deductions on your tax return.

What does it take to deduct the costs of sponsoring a sports team? What if you play on the team? Could you pay for the team travel expenses? This article answers the sports team sponsorship tax deduction questions for you.

Should you deduct your client and business meals in spite of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act? This article explains why that is what you should do and gives you reasons for doing it.

You asked us to elaborate on how tax reform did away with client and prospect business meals. It starts with the Tax Reform Act of 1986, when business meals were by law placed in the entertainment category. As you know, so-called business-friendly tax reform killed deductions for business entertainment and, along with it, client and prospect meals.

Imagine this. You pay $1,000 for your golf foursome to play golf in the annual charitable golf outing. You have been doing this for years, and you were always able to deduct the full $1,000. Now, because of the new tax reform, your deduction is $300. Disturbing?

Tax reform did not destroy business meal presentation expenses. Read this article to see how business meal presentations work in the real world and also learn the basic rules that apply to them.

In a previous edition of the Tax Reduction Letter, we explained how you get business deductions for the cost and laundry expenses of work clothes you buy for yourself and your employees. This update explains how you still get your full deduction even if you do not provide this benefit to all employees.

Sometimes it feels like the IRS wants everything from you, including the shirt off your back. At the Tax Reduction Letter, our team of researchers works every day to find ways to protect you from government overreach. We’ll be sure to help you keep your money—and even give you a deduction for that shirt on your back! Read this article to find out when the IRS allows you to deduct the clothes you wear in your business.

Have you considered the possibilities of turning the monies you send to charities into business expenses? You should. It can save you tax dollars. Sure, you might already be deducting the money now as charitable deductions. But wouldn’t you really rather achieve the tax deductions as tax-favored business expenses?

Lawmakers reduced your deduction for legitimate business entertainment meals from 100 to 80 percent in 1986 and then from 80 to 50 percent in 1993. That might be good news. It could protect you from the dreaded Sutter rule, where you could lose all your entertainment meal deductions if you didn’t spend more, or differently, than you spend on yourself. Yes, tax laws can be strange.

Tax law favors and allows deductions for civic and public service clubs and even names some favored clubs. But tax law does not allow dues deductions for airline, hotel, country, golf, athletic, and business-meal clubs.

The critical point for making payments to charities and churches deductible business expenses is your reasonable expectation of financial return.

You always come out ahead when you can deduct your charity involvement as a business expense.

The business gift basket runs into the $25 limit on business gifts. If you want to deduct more than $25, you need to know the rules in this article that produce bigger deductions.

Making gifts to promote your business is complicated by time, inflation, and poor tax legislation. Make sure you know the rules so that you keep your tax deductions on your tax return.

The woman in this audit learned how knowledge can turn what appears as a nightmare (an IRS audit) into a positive happening—meaning cash refunds for the year of the audit and subsequent years. As the old sayings goes, “knowledge is power.”

To deduct a birthday party as a business expense, you must convincingly demonstrate a direct association with business activity.

With one exception, you may not deduct a facelift as a medical expense because you use your face for both business and personal purposes. As to deducting the facelift as a business expense, this has not worked out so far.

You probably should not try to deduct teeth whitening. The law generally disallows a teeth whitening–type of expense because it has both a personal and a business benefit.

Tracy Topping saved $251,462 in taxes when she proved that her horse activity was not a hobby, but a promotional tool for her business.

Business meals, like those consumed at Lions Club and Rotary meetings, ARE subject to the 50% rule. We have proof.

One couple coaches a girls’ softball team and puts up advertisements for their company. It is a good strategy that is good for business. We show them how to deduct coaching expenses like bats, balls, tees, and a pitching machine.

Revenue ruling 70-393 allows you to deduct the expenses of sponsoring a sports team.

Advertising your business on your vehicle does not change either your business or personal use of the car.

Rebates have become common. The tax treatment of a rebate by the salesperson depends on whether you write a check or receive a reduced commission and whether you do this rebate for charitable or promotional purposes.