• Contributing to qualified retirement and employee benefit accounts with pretax dollars can exempt some income from taxation and defer income taxes on other earnings.
• Tax rates on long-term capital gains are low.
• Capital loss deductions can reduce taxes further.

Don’t forget to deduct travel expenses, but be careful to only deduct legitimate write offs. Certain expenses for business travel are deductible as long as they meet two criteria: They must be “ordinary and necessary” in the course of doing business, and they must be documented.

Ordinary and necessary expenses of business travel may include:

• Travel by plane, car, bus, or train between your home and the destination
• Transportation at the destination (i.e., a shuttle ride from the airport to your hotel; a taxi trip from your hotel to the convention; the cost of a rental car)
• Actual or standard mileage costs of using your own or business vehicle for the trip
• Parking, tolls, and other costs associated with use of the vehicle
  Lodging
• Meals (either the actual cost of the meal or the IRS standard per diem)
• Dry cleaning or laundry services

You can take deductions for business-related expenses even if part of the trip includes personal vacation time. However, you can’t deduct expenses for family members accompanying you on a business trip unless there’s a business reason for them to attend.

Suppose you go to San Diego for a three-day trade show and take your spouse and son along, then spend two days sightseeing as a family. You can deduct your expenses for the three days of the convention, but not the personal days. You can’t deduct your family’s expenses for any part of the trip unless there’s a genuine business reason for them to attend (for instance, if your husband is working in your trade show booth).

A business discussion doesn’t have to result in actual sales or business in order for the entertainment expenses to be deductible. However, the expenses do have to be “directly related to” or “associated with” conducting or discussing business.

If you have questions about deductions, call out office. PS Tax Solutions provides complete accounting services in Tampa or Lutz.  For more information, go to https://pstaxsolutions.com/ or call (813) 563-8724 for an appointment.