Can I deduct travel expenses if my family came with me?

[sfrisfreelancer]

I am a self-employed author. I had the opportunity to travel for 90 days in the summer across the U.S. with my family in an RV to visit several historic sites and parks. Over half of the time, I was working on book projects and running my business while on the road. I also took photographs and did local research for upcoming book projects as we traveled. Can I deduct my travel expenses even though my family was with me?

[ThomasM125]

You can deduct a portion of the travel if you are self-employed and the travel was necessary for your job. The IRS allows you to deduct expenses that are "ordinary" and "necessary" for your job. If it is ordinary and necessary for you to take the trip for your work, then the travel expenses are deductible. 

If you got audited, the IRS might be skeptical of your claim that the trip was for business if you took your family with you, however. So, it is up to you to determine if the trip was for business and to provide documentation to support your decision if you decide to deduct the travel expenses.

If you do deduct the travel, you must segregate personal from business expenses. For instance, you could only deduct the cost of your meals, not those for your family. Expenses for personal things, like trips to amusement parks, would not be deductible if not related to your business work. 

[Opus 17]

I am dubious. Do you have any expenses that can be explicitly allocated to the business and not to personal travel? Expenses that occurred because of your book writing activities and would not have occurred on a personal vacation?  (not allocations of shared expenses but expenses that are solely attributable to your employment?)

[AmyC · Accepted solution]

As an author/photographer, you will be expected to have submissions for your work. I agree with @ThomasM125 on the expenses and I also agree with Opus17 that it is easy to look like you are trying to write off a vacation.

If you are an author with multiple books under your belt, this sounds like great research. Be sure to review the Hobby vs Business rules below, have submissions and be ready to prove that this produced income. Note, if you are audited, it will be about 3 years from now so the fruit of your labor will be visible by then.  You did not say if this is a regular business and you are a published and known author. All the little things add up. Research for a project makes sense, only if you have something to show for 3 months of your life, in the business area claimed.

Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center - complete guide

• Publication 535, Business Expenses
• Deducting Expenses
• Recordkeeping
• Hobby or a Business. 

[sfrisfreelancer]

Thanks for your replies. I appreciate your helpful responses.

To clarify, I am an established author with my own line of books. We purposefully went to locations that I am researching for an upcoming category of travel books to be published later this year. 

While I do understand that I can not (and would not) write off family entertainment costs, I was wondering if lodging costs at specific locations relevant to researching and photographing for my upcoming travel books would be allowed. My family did come along; however, it wasn't a typical family vacation.

[Opus 17]

I like Amy's answer best; if audited, you will want to show the IRS that you have income related to this trip.

You can only deduct expenses that are directly and reasonably related to work (production of income).  That can include actual travel costs, actual lodging costs, and 50% of meals or 50% of the federal meal per diem.  Obviously, you can only include your own meals, not your family.  And you can't include in your travel, side trips to places that were not work-related.  For RV travel, you can't use the standard mileage rate, so you need to use the actual expense method.  I suppose your expenses would have been the same with or without the family, including them probably did not increase your transportation cost.  For lodging, I suppose you would have to look at what your lodging would have cost if you were traveling alone.  (Camp site fees per person or per vehicle?  Any nights at hotels, one room or more?)

Just to state again, you can only include expenses that were ordinary and necessary to producing income, and you will need to make some reasonable separation between expenses you would have occurred if making the trip on your own, and expenses that were incurred because you brought your family that were not directly related to producing income.

See here for more. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/deducting-business-expenses