Time with family is precious. That's why more and more business travelers are adding on vacation to their trips and inviting family to join them. Sometimes it's easy to mix business and pleasure - especially with the trend toward booking business conferences at resort areas like Orlando or Las Vegas. With a little advance planning, you can get Uncle Sam to foot part of the bill - legally. The Internal Revenue Service lets you deduct 100 percent of your transportation costs for travel within the United States - as long as the primary reason for the trip is business.
If your trip is primarily for pleasure, only expenses directly related to business are deductible. So the trick is to make business the principal purpose of your trip. Then you can mix in a few vacation days and still fully deduct transportation costs, including: airfare (for yourself only), getting to and from the airport, tips for baggage handlers, cabs from your hotel to your business meetings and back. Of course, you don't have to fly to get tax write-offs. The same rules apply when you travel by rail or car.
Pack the family into the car for the joint business/vacation destination, and you can deduct the total cost of driving back and forth, even though others are in the car. When you share your hotel room with family members, you may deduct the cost of what you would have paid for a single, rather than double, room. Just be sure to ask the hotel to note the single rate on your bill. Plus, you can write off all your daily out-of-pocket expenses - lodging, hotel tips, and 50 percent of meals, seminar and convention fees, cab fare, etc. - for business days at your destination.
Your out-of- pocket expenses for personal days are not deductible. There is a really easy way to gain maximum tax deductions and take some extra days off too. It's the Saturday night stay-over exception. If staying over a Saturday night would substantially reduce your airfare - and thus the overall cost of your business trip - the IRS will cut you a break. In effect, the IRS lets you count the extra days as business days because staying over actually saves money.
Remember, your trip must still be primarily for business and you can only deduct 50 percent of your meal expenses. Keep in mind that the IRS pays close attention to deductions claimed for business travel. Maintain a log to substantiate your business activities. Include the dates of departure and return, the number of days spent on business, and the reason for the travel..
Singles Travel International Celebrates Halloween in Las Vegas at the Mirage
Lockport, IL (ContentDesk) August 12, 2004 --
Luck is yours as you experience the excitement of a three day Halloween party for adults at the epicenter of the entertainment capital of America ? The Mirage in Las Vegas.
It's Singles Travel International's Fourth Annual Halloween Party from October 28-31, 2004.
This Halloween party at the AAA-Four Diamond Mirage Resort features amenities seasoned travelers have come to expect from Singles Travel International.
Rates for this Fourth Annual Halloween Party in Las Vegas start at $569 plus airfare.*Travel and Leisure Magazine noted in April 2004, Singles Travel International is "The choice for singles traveling worldwide."
Tammy Weiler, president of Singles Travel International, related "Our high quality tours have always attracted fun-loving individuals who love to travel."It all begins with the lush foliage, towering waterfalls, and sparkling lagoons ? a glimpse into the exotic elegance of paradise...
Singles Explore the Heart of Ireland and Irish Matchmaking Festival, September 25 ? October 3, 2005
Boca Raton, FL (ContentDesk) August 24, 2005 -- Ireland.
The name inspires visions of castles, quaint villages, nature's majesty, and people with cheery welcomes for all.
If you've waited to visit Ireland, now is the time.
Be pampered with First Class accommodations.
Enjoy Irish breakfasts and dinners.
Relax knowing that your professional Irish guide is well versed in the history and folk tales of the cities, villages, and sites on this awe-inspiring tour.
Experience Ireland with Singles Travel International on a coast-to-coast tour of the isle of lore and love from September 25 through October 3, 2005.
Rates for this exciting trip start at $1,499 plus airfare.* Single accommodations are only an additional $400.It all begins in historic and cosmopolitan Dublin.
Famous sites to explore include Trinity College and the Book of Kells.
Of course, the famed Guinness Storehouse is not to be missed, so it's included...
Luxury Cruise Lines
Cruise lines have become affordable for many people. This is one of the most memorable experiences one can have because of the large choice of activities packaged in one place. However, the high class cruise lines rated as six-star are expensive beauties with unimpeachable services and amenities. The interiors, the wood and fabrics used, the crockery, cuisine, drinks and even the linen used are of the finest quality. Such luxury is heavy the pocket and only for those who can afford it.
It is expensive not only for the passengers but also a company to construct and run such luxury.
The all-in-one luxurious package is even hard to find in a landlubber city. Common amenities may have Internet cafes, libraries, shows as in Las Vegas, casinos, parlors, sports areas, clubs, Jacuzzi, malls, ball room, dance floor, small and big restaurants, European style spas and much more. Cabins may be well equipped with data ports, satellite phones, mini-bars etcetera. Luxury cruise...
The Spiritual Cinema Circle, a Breath of Fresh Air for Weary Hollywood Movie Fans, Announces Upcoming Movies for July
Cody, WY (ContentDesk via ContentDesk Direct) June 30, 2005 -- The Spiritual Cinema Circle, a monthly membership-based club that allows movie fans to receive and keep a unique and non-mainstream selection of DVDs, announces the selection of their upcoming movies for the month of July. The July movies include: "Butterfly Woman," "Stuck," "Reflection" and "James's Journey to Jerusalem." The Spiritual Cinema Circle distributes four to five films on DVD...
Deducting your combined biz/vacation travel dvd Airfare
You are What you Feel
Copyright 2005 Mary Desaulniers
When Wordsworth described the Romantic mind as an "Orphean lyre" played upon by the wind, he used an image that struck a chord in the Romantic Imagination, an image that unleashed a century of political, literary and social rebellion.
Why did the image of the lyre speak so dramatically to the people 300 years ago? Can we see in our current research on emotions and the body concrete evidence that what was once a poetic metaphor is an actual...
Tunes To Go: Music From Your Computer to Your Car
(ARA) - The digital audio revolution is in full swing as music lovers worldwide are using their computers as high-tech jukeboxes. But you're not just limited to listening to songs on your PC while you check your e-mail. It's easier than ever to manage your collection and listen to it in your car, whatever your destination. "It's great to hit the road and hear hours of the songs you want, when you want them. You're no longer confined to hearing only the radio, or swapping CDs on the front seat,"...
car cd player
WireSpring announces FireCast private labeling and OEM programs for digital signage and interactive kiosk networks
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (ContentDesk) June 24, 2004 -- WireSpring Technologies, a developer of software and technology for interactive kiosks and digital signage systems, today announced the availability of private labeling and OEM programs for its FireCast product line. These programs are designed to help value-added resellers, network operators, and hardware manufacturers/OEMs leverage the turnkey FireCast product line for kiosks and dynamic digital signage, while maintaining their valuable brand...
Deducting your combined biz/vacation travel WireSpring announces FireCast private labeling and OEM programs for digital signage and interactive kiosk networks plasma tv
Social Security: Which Is Much Better Early Or Late Retirement?
The social security retirement benefit is given during the normal retirement age of a qualified member. The normal retirement age is the age at which the retirement benefits equal the amount of the primary insurance. However, the normal retirement age of members varies by year of birth. Any retirement before the normal retirement age may reduce the retirement benefits to be received by members however the opposite applies if ever members choose to retire after the normal retirement age. The amount...
Deducting your combined biz/vacation travel
February is National Children?s Dental Health Month: Tooth Fairy to Visit Local Schools in February
National Children's Dental Health Month began as a one-day event in Cleveland, Ohio on February 3, 1941. The American Dental Association held the first national observance of Children's Dental Health Day in 1949, and by 1981 extended it to a month long celebration. Although dental health among children has dramatically improved since 1941, it's still important that all parents know about the keys to good dental health. NCDHM is aimed at publicizing these practices.The Tooth Fairy will be visiting...
February is National Children?s Dental Health Month: Tooth Fairy to Visit Local Schools in February cosmetic dentistry