Financial Services

Strange business expenses include a llama rental and buying a human skull


The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act overhauled the ability to deduct certain business expenses, both borne by the employer and the employee.

For instance, the new tax law slashed the deductions business owners could claim for meals and entertainment.

Under the old tax law, employers could deduct 50 percent of the cost of entertainment-related meals and 50 percent of the face value of a ticket to a sporting event.

Now, the cost of the entertainment alone is no longer deductible. That means those tickets to see Cher with a client aren’t eligible for a tax break, but the meal you have together at a restaurant prior to the event could be.

Similarly, if you buy dinner at the show, you can deduct the 50 percent of the cost of the meal if you pay for it separately from the event tickets, said Greene-Lewis.

Let’s say that you were the worker who sought a reimbursement and your employer denied it.

Back in 2017, you had a chance to deduct unreimbursed employee expenses — provided they are ordinary and necessary to the business you’re in — as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. In total, these deductions had to exceed 2 percent of your adjusted gross income in order for you to claim them.

Under the new tax code, these breaks are out of the picture as of 2018.

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