Originally Posted by
DCBob
As an accountant and former IRS agent, I believe the purchase of points should be allowed as a lodging expense in the exact dollar amount used to buy a hotel room used for business purposes. Of course, the purchase must be directly traceable to the redemption of those same points used to pay for a hotel room used for business, which is very difficult to prove.
IANAL, IANAA but this is my instinct too. Plus, the hotel expenditure would need to be reasonable, etc., so that it would be difficult to stay with points and be reimbursed for the points at a luxury property. Perhaps more importantly, you would have trouble buying points during promo periods and then using your stock of points for business travel. It wouldn't make sense to pay the fees for points just as you need to use them. However, I would remain nervous that what you are purchasing and being reimbursed for technically is points rather than lodging, so are those points a proper business expense? I wouldn't want to test it.