That said, there
are some entertainment expenses that are still eligible for favorable tax treatment.
What
's an entertainment expense?
Not exact matches
Deduction changes
are coming for meals and
entertainment, business automobiles, mortgage interest, alimony and medical
expenses.
The two most common financial oversights entrepreneurs make
are underestimating how many of their everyday
expenses are being subsidized by their business — medical and life insurance premiums, club memberships, vehicles, travel and
entertainment costs, etc. — and overestimating the amount of after - tax investment income that can
be generated from the proceeds of the sale.
The deduction for meals and
entertainment expenses is limited to 50 % of the amounts that would otherwise
be deductible.
A deduction for
expenses incurred for meals or
entertainment is allowed only if the
expenses are (1) directly related to the active conduct of business or (2) associated with the active conduct of business and directly precede or follow substantial business discussions.
Q. Mitch, would you define what «
entertainment» and «business meeting»
expenses are legitimate for the home office business owner?
Are you perplexed by the 13 - page IRS guidelines for deducting travel and
entertainment expenses?
There
's a fine line between business and pleasure when you
're talking
entertainment expenses.
There
are several important rules to follow to ensure your meals and
entertainment expenses stand up to tax - time scrutiny.
You can consider your
entertainment expenses to
be for business purposes if they
are either «directly related to» or «associated» with your business.
Dig Deeper: Deducting Business
Entertainment Expenses How to Write Off T&E: Keeping Track of Travel and
Entertainment When traveling or entertaining for business purposes, it
's important to document everything.
Certain other
entertainment expenses are also 100 percent deductible if they
are taxable as compensation to the employee or independent contractor, or if they
are reimbursed
expenses.
Needless to say, the elimination of the
entertainment expenses including
entertainment - related meals
is a major blow.
It may
be that losing some of the
entertainment - related
expense deductions will
be offset by reduced tax rates in case of corporations and the new 20 percent qualified business income deduction for pass - through entities.
Adjust your promotional strategy: Businesses might want to consider spending more on promotional
expenses instead of
entertainment expenses, since promotional items
are fully deductible.
Evaluate
entertainment expenses: Businesses may want to examine what
entertainment expenses they incurred and determine how to focus more on those
expenses that
are deductible under the new tax law.
Exclude mortgage payments, building improvements and
entertainment expenses, which
are not considered operating
expenses.
First,
be aware that the three items the IRS reviews the most
are car
expenses, travel and
entertainment expenses, and home office deductions.
To recap, under prior law you
were allowed to deduct 50 % of your qualified business
entertainment and meal
expenses.
Reviewing desired
expenses, such as dining out,
entertainment, clothing, or travel, and minimizing how much
is spent in each category also helps uncover the extra dollars that can
be used toward paying down the principal balance on student debt.
If you've never created a budget or if you need a refresher, the simplest way to get going
is to write down every single
expense in a given month, then break them down into two categories: fixed
expenses (the things you must pay, like rent, bills and loan payments) and discretionary
expenses (things you control, like food,
entertainment, car - related
expenses and clothes).
«It
's important to remember that lifestyle
expenses such as
entertainment, dining, and gifting
are all not likely to diminish, and may even increase, in retirement,» Wimbish noted.
Entertainment expenses: The act disallows a deduction for (1) an activity generally considered to be entertainment, amusement, or recreation; (2) membership dues for any club organized for business, pleasure, recreation, or other social purposes; or (3) a facility or portion thereof used in connection with any of the
Entertainment expenses: The act disallows a deduction for (1) an activity generally considered to
be entertainment, amusement, or recreation; (2) membership dues for any club organized for business, pleasure, recreation, or other social purposes; or (3) a facility or portion thereof used in connection with any of the
entertainment, amusement, or recreation; (2) membership dues for any club organized for business, pleasure, recreation, or other social purposes; or (3) a facility or portion thereof used in connection with any of the above items.
There
are many approaches, but it starts with a budget that identifies your needs — essential
expenses like food, housing, and health care — and your wants — discretionary
expenses like travel, eating out, and
entertainment.
Ours
is indeed a consumeristic culture, the kind that too often turns people into commodities, and I believe Christians can speak into that culture in a unique, life - giving way — not only as it concerns sex - on - demand, but also as it concerns food - on - demand, celebrity - on - demand, stuff - on - demand, cheap - goods - on - demand, pornography - on - demand,
entertainment - on - demand, comfort - on - demand, distraction - on - demand, information - on - demand, power - on - demand, energy - on - demand, and all those habits that tend to thrive at the
expense of the dignity and value of our fellow human
beings or our planet.
Television robbed big - time plant football and baseball teams of their spectators until the
expense of maintaining teams as legitimate employee
entertainment devices could no longer
be justified.
There
are even those, it seems, who would like to deduct the added cost of luring the athlete to old Siwash State — an
expense that sometimes runs into quite a sum, what with a new convertible for the prospect's father and a new automatic washing machine for Mom, along with numerous trips to the campus and appropriate accompanying
entertainment for the halfback himself.
LPCiminelli said in a statement that under the terms of their contract, all the meals and
entertainment expenses were allowed.
Keith found that the company
was reimbursed for thousands of dollars in lavish meal and
entertainment expenses that went far beyond what state agencies usually pay for.
• Federal investigators
are looking into payment records to a Spitzer consultant named Kristian Stiles, who used to put a lot of travel, lodging, and
entertainment expenses for the governor onto her own credit card and ask for reimbursement later.
The University at Buffalo Foundation spent almost $ 40,000 on questionable
entertainment expenses, operated for three years under an expired contract with the campus, and lacks policies to ensure contracts
are competitively bid, according to an audit released yesterday by the state comptroller's office.
LPCiminelli said in a written response that the company
was allowed to charge for meals and
entertainment expenses and that state officials never raised concerns about the payments.
If you've made the above changes and money
is still tight, consider doing a media detox and cutting back on
entertainment related
expenses.
The top three date
expenses for men
are personal
entertainment (like movie or concert tickets), dining or going out, and personal electronics.
When «American Idol» has made such fun of itself by having specials with those rejected by the judges as
being far too bad to
be anything but
entertainment at their own
expense, it
is mostly redundant to attempt to make a feature film doing the same thing.
Sharktopus
is stupid and insanely unpolished, but at least it
's good for modest
entertainment at its own
expense.
Also on the options sheet
is a rear - seat DVD
entertainment system, which comes at the
expense of the (optional) power sunroof and adds $ 1,140 to the sticker price.
Most meal and
entertainment expenses that relate to your profession as an author
are deducted at 50 %, as long as the event has a clear business purpose, you keep records of the discussion, and you keep receipts for anything over $ 75.
We recommend this over the Priceline Visa if the portion of your NYOP spending
is low compared to all of your groceries, gas, and
entertainment expenses - the 1 % earnings on the bulk of your purchases will drag everything down compared to the 2 % you could
be earning on the Venture.
After these payments, you have your residual income which
is typically used for personal
expenses such as gas, groceries,
entertainment, etc..
For one to feel secure in retirement, monthly cash incomes
are needed to take care of both the core
expenses and discretionary ones (such as for travel and
entertainment).
This may
be an opportunity to re-evaluate my budget and allocate a few more dollars to
entertainment expenses.
This includes her car, computer, home office, supplies, sometimes phone, gas, maintenance, travel
expenses, sometimes
entertainment, etc - which can easily bring her «income» down from $ 38k to lets say $ 23k, reducing both her federal income tax AND self - employment tax to apply to $ 15k less (saving lets say 50 % of $ 15k = $ 7.5 k with federal and self employment because your income
is so high).
«I
was looking for a way to win free
entertainment while cutting back on my
expenses,» says Komori.
Many people think «airfare» when it comes to travel rewards, but the rewards can often also
be used for
expenses that include car rentals, hotels, and
entertainment such as concerts, amusement parks and movie tickets.
Certain Electronics: While computers and software
are now allowed as a qualified
expense, other electronics traditionally used for
entertainment, such as theater equipment
are projectors
are not qualified
expenses (unless the items
are specifically required by the school for enrollment or attendance).
Discretionary
Expense: Discretionary
expenses are within the control of the individual (food,
entertainment, etc.), unlike fixed
expenses which can not
be changed (car payment, cable bill, etc.).
Aside from the fact that it
's pretty comprehensive — it allows you to enter several dozen
expense items in eight broad spending categories — the tool also helps you see how much of your spending goes toward essentials (food, housing, health care, etc.) vs. discretionary expenditures (
entertainment, dining out, charitable donations, etc.).
Be sure to include your
entertainment expenses, savings account contributions, and emergency planning.