When you’re travelling for Ministry work, it’s easy to become so busy that you forget to keep track of your expenses. Here are five quick tips for claiming travel expenses for your tax return.
1. There are lots of different unreimbursed expenses that Clergy can claim on their taxes. The most common expenses include airfare, baggage fees, hotels, taxis to and from the airport, laundry, rental cars, 50% of your meals, and workshop or convention expenses.
2. Travel expenses must be related to your ministry work to be deducted. If you spent a day sightseeing, then you can’t claim any expenses related to that.
3. In order to claim hotel expenses, you must be far enough away from home that you can’t reasonably be expected to go home without sleep or rest.
4. If your spouse comes with you on the trip, you cannot claim any of his or her expenses, unless they are also working in the capacity of their own Ministry work.
5. It’s ok to split a trip between business and pleasure, but you will have to keep very good records in order to split the bills. For example, if you document that 60% of the time on your trip was spent at work, then you could only deduct 60% of the hotel bill.
These are general rules that won’t cover every situation possible. If you have a more specific question regarding travel expenses, Clergy Financial Resources can help. Our Pro-Advisor service can provide answers to your tax questions, quickly and easily. Visit https://www.clergyfinancial.com/resources/proadvisor/ today for more details!
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Clergy Financial Resources serves as a resource for clients to help analyze the complexity of clergy tax law, church payroll & HR issues. Our professionals are committed to helping clients stay informed about tax news, developments and trends in various specialty areas.
This article is intended to provide readers with guidance in tax matters. The article does not constitute, and should not be treated as professional advice regarding the use of any particular tax technique. Every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information. Clergy Financial Resources and the author do not assume responsibility for any individual’s reliance upon the information provided in the article. Readers should independently verify all information before applying it to a particular fact situation, and should independently determine the impact of any particular tax planning technique. If you are seeking legal advice, you are encouraged to consult an attorney.
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