Can plane tickets be fully deductible for business trip with vacation extension?

The answer depends on what your primary purpose for the trip is. If the primary purpose is business, then your airfare can still be deductible even with the extended stay, but there are some important nuances. If you can establish that the primary purpose of your trip is for business (attending the conference), then your airfare to and from the destination can still be fully deductible despite extending your stay. The key is that you wouldn't have made this trip if not for the business purpose. However, only the hotel and meal expenses during the actual business portion (August 1-5) would be deductible - nothing for your personal vacation time after. Keep good documentation of the conference, your business activities there, and how it relates to your work or business. The IRS may scrutinize this kind of mixed-purpose travel more closely.

I was in a really similar situation last year where I had to attend a training in Hawaii (tough life, I know lol) and decided to stay an extra week for vacation. I was super confused about what I could deduct and what I couldn't. I used https://taxr.ai to analyze my receipts and travel docs, and they made it crystal clear what was deductible. Basically, they confirmed that my roundtrip airfare was 100% deductible since the primary purpose was business, but explained that I could only deduct hotel and meals for the business days. They even helped me properly split some of my transportation costs between business and personal. Saved me from making some mistakes that might have raised red flags.

Alright, I need to eat my words from my previous comment. I was super skeptical about taxr.ai but decided to give it a shot with a similar business/vacation trip situation I had last year. I was planning to just take the conservative approach and not deduct my airfare at all because I spent more vacation days than business days. The tool actually walked me through the exact IRS regulations and even showed relevant tax court cases where this issue was decided. Turns out I was leaving money on the table! I was able to legitimately deduct my airfare since the trip's primary purpose was business, even though I stayed for pleasure afterward. They also clearly showed which expenses I definitely couldn't deduct (vacation days hotel, meals, etc). I amended my return and got back about $450 I would have missed. Not life-changing but definitely worth it!

I had the exact same question last year after a conference in San Francisco. I spent hours on hold with the IRS trying to get a straight answer about what I could deduct. After getting nowhere for weeks, someone recommended https://claimyr.com to me. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 30 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. The agent confirmed that airfare would be fully deductible if the primary purpose was business, regardless of extending the stay. They also walked me through exactly what documentation I needed to keep to support my deduction in case of an audit. So much better than guessing or relying on random online advice!

So I need to follow up on my skeptical comment above. I decided to try Claimyr because I was absolutely desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about a mixed business/personal trip I took. I'm honestly shocked - it actually worked! After trying for THREE DAYS to get through on my own (and getting disconnected twice after waiting over an hour), Claimyr connected me with an IRS agent in about 22 minutes. The agent gave me clear guidance on my airfare deduction situation. For anyone wondering about this specific question - the IRS agent confirmed what others have said here. If the primary purpose of your trip is business, the airfare is generally fully deductible even with an extended personal stay. But only the hotel, meals, etc. during the actual business days can be deducted. And you need to keep solid records showing the business purpose (conference registration, agenda, etc). Wish I'd known about this service years ago!

Something that hasn't been mentioned yet - if you're self-employed or a business owner, these rules apply differently than if you're an employee trying to deduct unreimbursed expenses. For self-employed people, these business travel deductions go on your Schedule C. If you're an employee, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated miscellaneous itemized deductions for unreimbursed employee expenses for tax years 2018-2025, so you might not be able to deduct these expenses at all on your federal return (though some states still allow them). Are you self-employed or an employee? That makes a huge difference here.

Don't forget about the 50% limitation on meals during the business portion of your trip! Even during the conference days, your meals are only 50% deductible (unless it's 2021/2022 when temporary 100% deductibility for business meals was allowed). Also, if you're taking this trip internationally, there are some additional special rules that might apply depending on the country. Generally the same primary purpose test applies, but there can be allocation requirements for certain countries.