Business expense deductions for travel YouTuber - CPAs gave completely opposite answers! Help!

This is actually a common question for content creators who travel. The truth does lie somewhere in the middle, but leaning more toward the first CPA. When expenses have both business and personal elements (what the IRS calls "mixed expenses"), you need to allocate between the two purposes. The key is documentation and having a reasonable basis for your allocations. For your situation, you should keep detailed records of: 1) Each day's filming activities and how they relate to your business 2) Receipts for everything with notes about the business purpose 3) A reasonable allocation when something serves both business and personal purposes For example, if you film a hotel review and stay there 3 nights, but only needed 1 night for the review, you might deduct 1/3 as business. For meals, you can generally deduct 50% of business meals (the IRS recognizes everyone needs to eat personally). The second CPA is wrong that you can't deduct anything - that's simply incorrect if you're genuinely creating content. The first CPA is being too aggressive by saying 100% of everything is deductible.

After following tax groups for years, I finally found a solution for these complicated business expense questions! I was struggling with my own deduction issues for my small business and getting conflicting advice just like you. I started using https://taxr.ai and it's been a game changer for my business expenses. What I love about it is you can actually upload receipts and documentation, and it analyzes everything against current tax code. For your specific situation with travel content creation, it would help you properly categorize and document which expenses are fully deductible, partially deductible, or personal. The analysis breaks down exactly what percentage is business vs personal based on your specific industry.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai that was mentioned earlier. I was pretty skeptical at first (I've tried so many "tax tools" that were useless), but I decided to give it a try with my photography business expenses which also involve travel. I'm honestly impressed! I uploaded a bunch of receipts from my last business trip, including hotels where I stayed extra days, and it broke down exactly what percentage was deductible with specific tax code references. It even flagged expenses that needed additional documentation and told me exactly what to save. What really sold me was when it identified that some of my equipment purchases qualified for Section 179 deductions that my previous accountant had missed entirely. Already saved me way more than it cost. Definitely going to use it for all my business expenses going forward.

Not directly answering your tax question (others gave good advice), but I wanted to share my experience with the IRS when I had questions about my business deductions that my accountant couldn't clearly answer. I tried calling the IRS for WEEKS. Always busy signals or 2+ hour hold times before getting disconnected. Super frustrating! Then I found https://claimyr.com which got me through to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent was actually really helpful about my business expense documentation questions and gave me clear guidelines. For travel content creators specifically, they said documentation is absolutely key - keeping a content calendar showing what you filmed where and when, and how it ties to your business model.

I need to eat my words about that Claimyr service mentioned above. After my skeptical comment, I was still desperate to talk to the IRS about an audit letter I received for my business expenses, so I tried it. Honestly... it worked exactly as advertised. Got connected to an IRS representative in about 15 minutes. The agent was actually really helpful and explained exactly what documentation they needed for my specific situation. Turns out I had most of what they wanted, just needed to organize it differently. For what it's worth, the agent confirmed what others said here about content creators - they said they see a lot of YouTubers and social media folks get in trouble not because their deductions aren't legitimate, but because their documentation is poor. They said if you can clearly show the business purpose and have a reasonable method for allocating mixed expenses (like using a consistent percentage or formula), they're much less likely to challenge it.

I do accounting for several content creators and here's my practical advice for your situation: Keep a detailed content calendar showing what you filmed each day and how it relates to your revenue streams. For example: "Day 1: Filmed hotel review for Hotel X, will monetize through YouTube ads and affiliate links to booking site." For lodging: If the primary purpose of staying at a hotel is to review it, that's a business expense. If you stay extra nights, those are personal. For meals: Generally 50% deductible if business related. If you're specifically reviewing the restaurant, you may be able to deduct more, but document thoroughly. For transportation: Flights to destinations specifically for content creation are business expenses. Local transportation to filming locations is deductible. For tours/activities: If you're filming them for content, they're business expenses. Ordinary and necessary test: Ask if the expense is ordinary and necessary for YOUR specific business. For a travel YouTuber, experiencing and filming travel activities is necessary.

The IRS actually addresses this exact issue in Publication 463 (Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses). The key factors are: 1) Primary purpose test - If the primary purpose of the trip is business, you can deduct business-related expenses. For a travel YouTuber, creating content IS your business. 2) Allocation requirement - You must allocate expenses between business and personal. What the first CPA said about deducting 100% of everything is definitely too aggressive. What the second CPA said about deducting nothing is flat wrong. Most importantly - DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Keep a daily log of what you filmed and how it relates to your business model. Save all receipts. Take notes about the business purpose. The more documentation you have, the safer you'll be if audited.

Great question! As someone who's dealt with similar business expense issues, I can see why you got such conflicting advice. The reality is that both CPAs were partially wrong - it's definitely not 100% of everything, but it's also not nothing. For your travel YouTube business, you'll want to focus on the "primary purpose" test. Since creating content IS your business model, many of your travel expenses will qualify - but you need to be strategic about allocation and documentation. A few key points specific to your situation: 1) Keep a content creation log - document what you filmed each day, which videos it's for, and how it ties to your revenue streams (ads, courses, affiliate links, etc.) 2) For extended international travel (14-15 months is significant), be aware that the IRS has special rules for foreign travel that might affect your deductions differently than domestic trips 3) Consider the "but for" test - would you have incurred this expense if not for your business? For a hotel you're specifically reviewing, probably not. For extra vacation days tacked on, probably yes. 4) Set up consistent allocation methods BEFORE you travel. For example, if you typically film 4 days and take 3 personal days per week, you might allocate 4/7 of lodging costs to business. The key is being reasonable and consistent with your methodology. Document everything and be prepared to defend your allocations with clear business logic.