Anybody have an investment property? My father and I bought a small family property near my grandmother, far away from us. My Dad always teased that he can now deduct the travel when he goes to visit his mother, because he'll stop by the property and do some light maintenance.
I've been teasing back that that would be a good way to commit tax fraud. But this year I noticed that one of the deductions TurboTax explicitly prompts you to take is. . . airfare!
Is it legit to deduct this travel?
This is one of those situations where it probably makes sense to pay a professional to answer your questions.
Do the research and I think you’ll find that it is possible to deduct travel expenses in certain circumstances. Not qualified to give advice, but the primary purpose of the trip has to be business. If I recall correctly, that means you must spend four or more hours of each business day on business-related matters. Again, this is just what I remember hearing from my CPA and you must do your own research.
Yeah, a primary purpose test sounds vaguely familiar. I guess I was just thrown by the prompt to deduct airfare. If you're ever boarding a plane with the primary purpose of checking in on a rental property, I'm not optimistic it's gonna be a profitable venture for you!
Coach
If the IRS gets mad just tell them you were teasing
If you comply with the requirements to justify the trip and deduct it, it seems like the fact you visit family is a nice added bonus, right? Just look into those requirements
And either way, you tell Grandma seeing her was the primary purpose, right! :)
Enthusiast
The IRS doesn’t have time or resources anyways for this.
Yeah, I gotta admit that crossed my mind too.