It is certainly possible to combine business travel and a personal vacation to allow you to deduct some of the costs. In fact, its a great way to subsidize some amazing family vacations. The key here, is great record keeping. Its important to carefully track all your expenses, and separate those that apply to the business portion of your trip from those that are for your family, or for the personal portion of your trip.
For instance, if you rent a car to drive to a business meeting or convention, and you also go to the beach or Disneyland while you are there, that car expense is deductible. However, if you fly to a business event and take your family with you, only your ticket is deductible. Similarly, if you share a room with others that you were using for business travel anyway, the whole cost of the room is deductible. But if you upgrade your room or get an extra room because your family is with you, those costs are not deductible. Its also important to remember that you can only deduct costs for the duration of the business event. If you stay an extra 3 days to enjoy yourself, that lodging expense is not deductible. As long as you keep good records, you will be able to use TurboTax or Quickbooks to accurately deduct eligible expenses easily.
Here are some resources which may be helpful:
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