Can you write off your trip to Italy?

Travel write-offs are always a popular topic among agents. Just this week during my keynote, someone asked:

“I booked a two week trip to Italy, and I'm going to visit a couple of real estate offices. Is my travel deductible?”

If you're spending two weeks in Italy and one afternoon in a real estate office, and you deduct the whole thing, the IRS is going to have some questions. 

While real estate agents can deduct many travel expenses, deductions should be associated with and in proportion to the time spent on actual business activities. This means you need to document it really well in your calendar and strategize trip expenses before you start traveling.

For instance, when attending a convention, an agent's flight, hotel room (even if family is present), and meals on-site are generally deductible (up to a certain percentage).

However, personal expenses outside the convention, such as theme park tickets or travel costs for family members (unless they are employees of the organization), are generally not deductible.

I just made a video going into detail on this topic here if you’re interested.

What travel expenses have you deducted as an agent? 

(This is general info, not individualized tax advice)