Get tax help covering combined business, pleasure travel

May 30, 2012

You just got home from a quick Memorial Day holiday trip, but if you're planning more travel this summer, you might be able to get some help from Uncle Sam.

The Weekly Tax Tip today looks at how business travelers can tack a few personal days onto the trip and still get tax breaks to cover most of the work-related expenses.

The key to getting travel help from the tax code is to make sure that your main reason for hitting the road (or flying or taking the train) is work. That way those legitimate expenses, including transportation and lodging and some meals, can be deducted.

Then when you stay a day or two to see the sights, you only have to cover those costs on your own.

Remember to carefully document your trip, detailing the separate business and personal expenses.

Good documentation will help you substantiate your legitimate business travel claims just in any IRS auditor questions whether you properly kept business and personal expenses separate.

Airplane photo by Sean MacEntee/Flickr

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The More Tax Posts tab at the top of this page will take you to, well, more tax posts. You also can search below for a tax topic.

Tax Season 2026 Continues!

We made it. Tax Day 2025 is finally over. For most of us. When the filing season started on Jan. 26, millions who were expecting refunds filed immediately. Most of us got our returns to the Internal Revenue Service by April 15. But plenty of taxpayers also got extensions. They are looking at an Oct. 15 filing deadline.

Those procrastinating filers aren’t a problem. In fact, the IRS appreciates taxpayers who take time to fill out their 1040 forms correctly. It also is grateful that tax submissions are spread out a bit, especially now that the IRS is a leaner agency. Processing returns is easier when they arrive throughout the year instead of in massive bunches.

But enough about Uncle Sam’s tax collection issues. The focus now is on all y’all who filed for extensions, giving you another six months to complete your return. Since your new mid-October due date will be here before you know it, let’s get started now on meeting it.

The ol’ blog is here to help you finish up your extended Form 1040. You can start with January’s tax tips page, which has links to the rest of the year’s tips by-month collections. You also can peruse various tax categories for more tailored advice by clicking on the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of this (and every) page.

And to make sure you don’t miss your new filing deadline, the count-down clock below will let you know just how much time you to file by Oct. 15. At the latest.e. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

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