Can I deduct business trip expenses?

If your business trip expenses are not reimbursed by your employer, you can generally deduct them. This includes transportation costs, hotel and lodging costs, meal expenses (subject to the requirement that you can only generally deduct 50% of your meal expenses), tips, laundry, cab fare and certain entertainment expenses. Where the primary purpose of your trip was for transacting business, and where the trip was within the United State, you can deduct all of your transportation and lodging costs, and 50% of your meal expenses. Where the trip’s main purpose was for vacation, you cannot deduct any of the travel expenses, although you can deduct other business related expenses that you spent while on the trip. In determining the purpose of any trip, the focus is on the amount of time spent on business related matters in comparison to the amount of personal time spent.

All of these deductions are included in the miscellaneous deductions and are therefore subject to the 2% floor (collectively with all other miscellaneous deductions).