Pub. 17, Chapter 28 - Car Expenses & Other Employee Business Expenses
This chapter discusses rules for deducting the ordinary and
necessary business-related expenses connected with:
- Travel away from home,
- Entertainment,
- Gifts, and
- Local transportation.
An ordinary expense is one that is common and
accepted in your field of trade, business, or profession. A
necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate
for your business. An expense does not have to be indispensable to be
considered necessary.
This chapter also discusses:
- What records you need to prove your expenses,
- How to handle reimbursements of your employee business
expenses, and
- How to report your expenses on Forms 2106 and
2106-EZ.
Expenses fully reimbursed.
You will not need to read this chapter if all of the
following are true.
- You fully accounted to your employer for your work-related
expenses.
- You received full reimbursement for your expenses.
- Your employer required you to return any excess
reimbursement and you did so.
- Box 13 of your Form W-2 shows no amount with a code L.
If you meet these four conditions, there is no need to show the
expenses or the reimbursements on your return. See
Reimbursements, later, if you would like more information
on reimbursements and accounting to your employer.
If
you meet these conditions and your employer included reimbursements
on your Form W-2 in error, ask your employer for a corrected Form W-2.
If you do not meet all of these conditions, you generally must
complete Form 2106 or 2106-EZ and itemize your deductions to
claim your expenses. See Completing Forms 2106 and 2106-EZ,
later.
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