Travel Deductions for Schedule C?
 

Nothing else to do--thought I would get the taxes done early this year.
Question: On a business only trip out of US I am using M&IE deductions from the State Department schedule. DH is self-employed. Given that these meals are out of country, and given that there is no re-imbursement can I deduct the entire amount approved by the State Department Per Diem schedule, or must I take only 50% as you normally do when travelling in the US?

Thank you,

P.S. Gotta warn you the staff over at IRS is very confused this year and service is nest to nil!

Since the Travel News forum's description is

and since there isn't a published "general travel news story" that you are linking to for discussion, I will send this thread to Travel Buzz. The mods there may have a better idea of a locale for it.

Thanks,

cblaisd
Moderator, Travel News

Taking tax advice from an IBB rather than a trained/licensed professional is probably a bad idea.

Yes.

My accountant uses the 50% rule whether business road meals are consumed in-country or overseas. But I agree that you need a tax pro for this sort of question, not a bunch of random Internet strangers.

Thank you all. I was just hoping to get an idea of what was typically done. I understand that accounting and the GAAP is a professional field. HOWEVER, I could not get three different people at the IRS to answer this question--what do they do there anyway? It seems a question fundamental to FFs.

Thank you for your concern--it is valued.

The IRS is prohibited from giving tax advice. They do have a branch that recruits volunteers to help with preparation of your return (VITA/TCE), but they do not have attorneys on staff to advise anyone, so I am not surprised that they refused to answer.

Assuming you are not a federal employee or contractor, my understanding is that you can deduct 50% even if it's foreign, but IANAL.