Interested in going on a vacation but making it 100% tax deductible? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could write off your family’s expenses during the trip as well? Well you can, if you understand the tax code surrounding hiring family and what is and isn’t tax deductible on a business trip.

If you have a small business or niche practice (regardless if it is profitable or not) and decide that you need help with the day to day operations, then you should seriously consider hiring your spouse and children to help. This is totally acceptable as long as the family member has a legitimate function in your business. For example, your office could be cleaned right? Well, instead of hiring a cleaner for MARKET VALUE, you could hire your child for the SAME market value. Just be sure to keep their yearly wage under $12,000 so it is tax free income. Your niche practice could also use an administrative assistant, right? Well, wouldn’t your spouse be the perfect person for this? The point is, make sure they have a legitimate function in your business.

Now, once you hire your family and decide to take a business trip to look for new expansion opportunities in a distant city that just happens to be at the beach, you can write off their travel expenses in full. There are certain rules surrounding percentages of travel that are deductible, but typically if more than 51% of the time was spent on business, then the TRANSPORTATION costs (gas, airline tickets, etc.) are 100% deductible. Additionally, ON THE ROAD expenses (food for example) are also deductible on days where business is conducted.

Another consideration is to ensure the point of the vacation/trip is for business. Like I mentioned, everyone wants to open a new office in a cool location, right? Or buy a short-term rental in an awesome mountain town, right? There needs to be a clear business goal for the trip and this needs to be documented in your tax diary. The goal does not need to be successful, just FYI.

This is just one way to lower your taxable income and ensure you are receiving legal tax deductions that you are entitled to under law. Combine this with the dozens of other deductions you are allowed to take, and your tax bill can get much lower! For MANY MORE tax lowering strategies, check out The “How to Lower Your Taxes” Course that is currently on sale! Remember, taxes are the BIGGEST EXPENSE in your life, so you need to ensure you are doing everything you can to get that expense to the legal minimum!