Hi...say I have a Vegas related blog. The blog gives recommendations and stuff to do in Las Vegas. Say the site is generating some revenue, like $1000 per month...and I fully declare this on my taxes. Can i write-off a "research" trip to Las Vegas? does anyone know this? thanks!
If you are paying taxes on the money generated by your hobby then it is no longer a hobby and so legitimate expenses can be deducted from this income. You will get scrutiny if your expenses exceed your income for more than a couple of years. It is then back to a hobby. Of course food and entertainment are only 50% deductable. wiz
thanks for the responses. It seems like if the tax game is played correctly, there are alot of write-offs available. but going back to the Vegas example...during my "research trip", what would i have to do to be able to claim it on my taxes...it seems funny, but can I just sit around the pool, than write some posts about how great the Vegas Pools are...and this will allow me to write off the whole trip? i have trouble understanding!
Canadian, if you approach the trip as if it's a "tax game" then you may very well end up on the losing side of an IRS audit later... Since you have no location identified in your User CP I cannot tell if you're American or Canadian (or British for that matter)... your moniker has "Canadian" but that could just mean you're a Canadian in the US... Where you live and which countries rules you abide by, will make a huge difference in how somebody might answer this question. Canada's laws concerning business write offs are much easier on the wallet, then the US. If you live in the US then you should design your trip around your business... yes you are allowed free time to enjoy yourself, but the business end of the trip must come first... It would be nice for instance if you could work your trip around a conference of some sort being held at the city that is in line with what you do. My main suggestion for your trip is you take along a small notebook to keep track of not only all of your expenses (including gratuities) but also exactly what you did with your time, and how that applied to your business... Dennis