33. In June of this year, Dr. and Mrs. Bret Spencer travel to Denver to attend a

Question

33. In June of this year, Dr. and Mrs. Bret Spencer travel to Denver to attend a three day conference sponsored by the American Society of Implant Dentistry. Bret, a practicing oral surgeon, participated in scheduled technical sessions dealing with the latest developments in surgical procedures. On two days, Mrs. Spencer attended group meetings where various aspects of family tax planning were discussed. On the other day, she went sightseeing. Mrs. Spencer does not work for her husband, but she does their tax returns and handles the family investments. Expenses incurred in connection with the conference are summarized below:
Airfare(two tickets) $2000
Lodging(single and double occupancy are the same arte----$250) $750
Meals($200x3days) $600
Conference registration fee (includes $120 for Family Tax Planning sessions) $620
Car rental $300
*split equally between Dr. and Mrs. Spencer
How much, if any, of these expenses can the Spencer’s deduct?

Explanation / Answer

Since Mrs Bret is not an employee of the company (the fact that she attended the group meetings re: family tax planning is irrelevant), none of the expenses for Mrs Bret are deductible.

Here is some more info on this:

Travel expenses for another individual. If a spouse, dependent, or other individual goes with you (or your employee) on a business trip or to a business convention, you generally cannot deduct his or her travel expenses.
Employee. You can deduct the travel expenses of someone who goes with you if that person:

-Is your employee,

-Has a bona fide business purpose for the travel, and

-Would otherwise be allowed to deduct the travel expenses.

Expenses For Spouses.   You generally cannot deduct the cost of entertainment for your spouse or for the spouse of a customer. However, you can deduct these costs if you can show you had a clear business purpose, rather than a personal or social purpose, for providing the entertainment.

Example.

You entertain a customer. The cost is an ordinary and necessary business expense and is allowed under the entertainment rules. The customer's spouse joins you because it is impractical to entertain the customer without the spouse. You can deduct the cost of entertaining the customer's spouse. If your spouse joins the party because the customer's spouse is present, the cost of the entertainment for your spouse is also deductible.

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