Business/pleasure Whistler trip

I have a strange question, hope it's considered on-topic. Last spring
I was lucky enough to go to be sent by my work to a conference in
Whistler, and I did some skiing while I was there. I stayed in a ski
resort the whole time. I'm not sure what the tax ramifications are,
does anybody else know? Can I write off the whole trip, or only part?
Has anyone else been in this situation, and what did you do? I do my
taxes myself online, so I can't "ask my accountant" about it.
Another question: How long does the ski season in Whistler typically
last, anyway? I was surprised at the great conditions even so late in
spring. I'd love to go back sometime. There's even a chance the same
conference will be held there again in the future. Any recs for your
favorite places to ski/stay/visit?



Thx,
Patrick

IANAL, but you can write off the legitimate business parts of the trip per
IRS regs.

Lift tickets and ski rentals probably won't qualify unless you can document
that they were necessary to transact business -- for example, slopeside business
conferences, the same as how corporate executives can deduct their golf course
fees.

If you had business each and every day you were there, your lodgings are
all deductible up to the IRS published per diem rate for Whistler. If there
is no published rate -- perhaps Canada's revenue dept. has a similar rate
sheet.

As long as you're reasonable, have receipts, and can make a justifiable case
if you get audited, you should be fine.

Naturally, this works better if you have 1099 income to offset. If you're
W-2, you'll probably have to do it under the "miscellaneous expenses" subject
to 2% of gross income. If you're in business for yourself as a Type S, expense
everything.

I recommend TurboTax Pro.

"Patrick E." wrote in message
om...
I have a strange question, hope it's considered on-topic. Last spring
I was lucky enough to go to be sent by my work to a conference in
Whistler, and I did some skiing while I was there. I stayed in a ski
resort the whole time. I'm not sure what the tax ramifications are,
does anybody else know? Can I write off the whole trip, or only part?
Has anyone else been in this situation, and what did you do? I do my
taxes myself online, so I can't "ask my accountant" about it.

You may want to post this on misc.taxes. One thing, it would depend on what
country you reside in and what citizenship are you.


Another question: How long does the ski season in Whistler typically
last, anyway? I was surprised at the great conditions even so late in
spring. I'd love to go back sometime. There's even a chance the same
conference will be held there again in the future. Any recs for your
favorite places to ski/stay/visit?



Thx,
Patrick

jimintexas wrote:

IANAL, but you can write off the legitimate business parts of the trip per
IRS regs....

I recommend TurboTax Pro.

I reccomend you find a better place to get tax advice than a skiing
group on usenet.

That said, jimintexas more or less has it right (although I'm a TaxCut
fan myself). It all depends on what you mean by "legitimate" or more
importantly what the potential auditor deems legitimate.

I've known people who've deducted some quite outrageous things as
business expenses and gotten away with it. (that is, they were never
audited). I've also known people who've been raked over the coals in an
audit and had quite legit deductions disallowed. These are anecdotal,
my sample is small, and spans several decades (and consequently several
different instances of tax laws and enforcement climates) so I wouldn't
read too much into it.

The questions to ask a

1) is it likely to trigger an audit?
2) can you defend it if you are audited?

An experienced tax professional can answer those questions much better
than I can.


--
//-Walt
//
// http://www.bushtax.com/

Walt wrote:

The questions to ask a

1) is it likely to trigger an audit?
2) can you defend it if you are audited?

An experienced tax professional can answer those questions much better
than I can.

A friend who took every possible deduction and was prepared to fight it
out if audited said that he considered his 1040 his opening bid.

--
Cheers,
Bev
*******************************************
"Let them all go to hell, except Cave 76"
-- Mel Brooks

In article ,
says...
I have a strange question, hope it's considered on-topic. Last spring
I was lucky enough to go to be sent by my work to a conference in
Whistler, and I did some skiing while I was there. I stayed in a ski
resort the whole time. I'm not sure what the tax ramifications are,
does anybody else know? Can I write off the whole trip, or only part?
Has anyone else been in this situation, and what did you do? I do my
taxes myself online, so I can't "ask my accountant" about it.
Another question: How long does the ski season in Whistler typically
last, anyway? I was surprised at the great conditions even so late in
spring. I'd love to go back sometime. There's even a chance the same
conference will be held there again in the future. Any recs for your
favorite places to ski/stay/visit?



Thx,
Patrick



Yup, it's all about what you can safely claim for business uses.
Probably not skiing, but probably lodging and food, although it may
depend. Keep those receipts!

What filing software do you use? It might offer support for tax
questions. I know TaxBrain.com has round-the-clock live help,
that's what I use. Yours might too.