Not sure this is the right forum, but here's the question...

Through my work, I have been offered a rather expensive hospitality package by a vendor. This is an all-expenses paid trip for myself and my wife that includes air/hotel/lodging/entertainment, and given the type of trip, is valued quiet high. Main issue is that the vendor is making all attendees fill out W-9s for tax purposes.

This trip will have dozens of people in my industry attend, so the opportunities to network and talk shop will be there. The vendor did tell me that I could probably get a letter from my company for the IRS stating the business purposes, but didn't get into more detail.

So, my question is, where does this fall into the taxable business expense guidelines, since I'm not paying for anything?

For illustrative purposes, let's assume the cost of the trip is valued at $20k ($12k for the primary traveler, $8k for the guest). At a 'typical' tax bracket, that's about a $6k tax hit.

Does this fall into the 2% business expense deduction? Note that I'm not self-employed and work for a large company, but do not think they'll reimburse me for the taxes on the trip (I hesitate to even ask!)

Any advice would be appreciated (btw, already have a call into my accountant, but probably won't hear back till next week so my curiosity is burning).