Questions tagged [eligible-expenses]

Eligible Expenses tag is for questions dealing with expenses that qualify for a benefit or is allowed. Generally a tax question but could be for medical expenses, etc. Be sure to include additional tags to indicate what category of eligible expenses the question is about.

Exammples

Taxes

In the United States, only certain medical expenses are allowed to be deducted. For example cosmetic surgery is not eligible.

Business Expenses

In the United States, travel by car from home to work is not considered a business expense for tax purposes, but driving from work to a seminar would be.

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Is the company asking me to commit fraud by asking me to apply for reimbursement of half of trip expenses paid entirely by my colleague?

Recently, I traveled on company business with a colleague. To save money, we agreed to share a hotel room. My colleague booked and paid for the accommodation in its entirety. I paid nothing for the room, or the rental car that they also booked. Now…
Acton Bell
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Does the IRS reprieve those who have to commute for work?

Consider someone who for either family or affordability reasons is unable to live in San Francisco, where they make their living. Their daily commute is long. The cost of the commute is nontrivial, relative to the net salary. Does the IRS offer any…
Sebastian
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Hiring Foreign Contractors - Is This Tax Deductible?

I have a small start-up business in the US and I'm going through freelance sites like freelancer.com to get some work done. The appeal of this is that the rates for foreign contractors is often less than US contractors, but even so I'm riding the…
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How to handle a hobby that makes income in US

Suppose a US hobby artist consistently has more expenses than income, so the activity does not qualify as a business. But suppose the hobby has income from selling paintings. How should the artist report this activity to the IRS, and can the hobby…
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Switch from HSA/Limited FSA to FSA only

In 2016 I had a High Deductible Health Plan/HSA and a Limited FSA through my employer. For 2017 during our open enrollment I decided to not use a HDHP, and chose a PPO Plan. In addition, I selected a full FSA for 2017. The administrator is telling…
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How can we use up our Flex Spending Account (FSA) before the end of the year?

My husband and I signed up for a Flex Spending Account for the first time this past year. We've got about $100 left over now, in mid-November, and I've been told that money will disappear if we don't use it by the end of the year. I don't…
JCarterRN
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RESP withdrawals: What are the eligible/qualified education costs or expenses, other than tuition?

A few years ago, my wife and I started an RESP to help us save for my daughter's eventual post-secondary education. We're doing well with it: we take advantage of the maximum government match, and invest the funds in a diversified portfolio of…
Chris W. Rea
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Can I use my HSA debit card to pay for vaccinations?

I am about to go on safaris in South Africa and Zambia and need to be vaccinated against a few diseases. The IRS publication 502 doesn't mention vaccinations explicitly, but does state that Medical care expenses must be primarily to alleviate or …
MisterStrickland
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What is considered a business expense on a business trip?

Scenario: I own my own business (LLC). There is a business-related conference that I wish to attend that requires travel. I assume airfare, cabs, hotel and conference tickets are all obvious expenses that I can use my American Express Business…
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Minimizing medical costs with HSA

After landing a new job, I opened a health savings account (HSA) in February 2019. I decided to contribute $1 of my pay per pay period to my HSA. However, I can change my contribution amount at any time. Recently I've been advised by my endodontist…
Liz Salander
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Claiming mileage allowances, what are the rules/guidelines?

For my job, I often have to visit clients around the UK, normally for a couple of days at a time, so most of the time I will use my own car to drive there and back. My company pays £0.28 per mile, I'm not sure if that works out to cover my mileage…
James
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Can an S-Corp write off work and merchandise expenses donated to a non-profit organization?

We are renting a commercial building from a non-profit. Can our company (s-corp) buy things and have someone on our payroll do things for the non-profit? Not asking for a donation receipt. Just wanting to support the non-profit. It would reflect as…
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Is room and board a qualified expense?

My daughter recently started college, and I'm looking at paying for it out of her 529 account. A significant part of the cost is room and board. The IRS website about qualified educational expenses says that room and board are not a qualified…
Peter K.
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What defines a transportation-related medical expense to be "primarily for, and essential to, medical care"?

I'm trying to understand which transportation-related medical expenses are IRS-Qualified Medical Expenses for health savings accounts (HSA). I understand that Publication 969 defines what HSAs are, including what counts as qualified medical…
Franck Dernoncourt
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Business-gift expenses in the US?

In the USA-IRS milieu, Consider these two examples: Sally is self-employed. Her business has various clients. So in the new tax year 2018 under whatever rules apply in 2018, Sally flies to Japan to see a large client. Sally purchases $50 of…
Fattie
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