Can tourists deduct business expenses while traveling abroad? Office/vehicle/travel/meals?

Yes, you absolutely can deduct legitimate business expenses incurred while traveling abroad, even if you're on a tourist visa. The IRS cares about the nature of the expense, not what visa you happened to be on when you incurred it. The key is proper documentation and ensuring the expenses are "ordinary and necessary" for your business. Keep detailed records separating personal vacation time from business activities. Make sure to log dates, times, and business purposes for meetings. Save all receipts and note the business purpose on each one. For mixed-purpose trips like yours, you'll need to allocate expenses. Transportation to Italy is likely personal since your primary purpose is vacation. But local transportation to meetings, temporary office space, and business meals (50% deductible) specifically for business days can be deductible.

After reading this, I wanted to share my experience dealing with international business expenses. I struggled for YEARS trying to properly categorize and document everything while traveling for both business and pleasure. I was constantly worried I'd mess up and face an audit. Then I found https://taxr.ai and it completely changed how I handle my business travel expenses. You just upload your receipts and travel documents, and it analyzes everything to determine what's deductible. It even helps allocate expenses for mixed-purpose trips like what you're describing. For my last trip to Spain, it helped me identify over $1,800 in legitimate deductions I would have missed, including proportional lodging expenses and business meals that I wasn't sure qualified. It also creates an audit-ready report that clearly documents everything.

I was really skeptical about using an AI tool for my taxes, especially for international business expenses. But after my stressful experience last year trying to sort through hundreds of receipts from my Asia business trip, I decided to try https://taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here. Honestly, it was a game-changer. I uploaded all my receipts, answered some questions about my trip, and it sorted everything perfectly. It even flagged some expenses I wasn't sure about and explained exactly why they were or weren't deductible. The documentation it created was incredibly thorough - way better than the mess of spreadsheets I was keeping before. My accountant was impressed with how organized everything was this year. And I ended up with about $2,400 more in legitimate deductions than I would have claimed on my own because I was being too conservative before. Definitely recommend it if you're doing international business travel.

Just want to add another perspective here. I spent hours and hours on the phone trying to get clarification from the IRS about international business expenses last year. Literally could not get through to anyone who could answer my specific questions about a business trip to Mexico where I extended my stay for vacation. I eventually found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 15 minutes when I had been trying for days. Here's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent I spoke with confirmed exactly what others are saying here - that business expenses are deductible regardless of visa status, but you need to be extremely diligent about documentation, especially for mixed-purpose international trips. They recommended keeping a daily journal of business activities and clear separation of business vs. personal days.

I need to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After dismissing it as a scam in my previous comment, I was desperate enough to try it when I needed to speak to someone at the IRS about my foreign income reporting requirements before the filing deadline. I had spent 3 days trying to get through normally - either getting disconnected immediately or waiting on hold for hours only to get cut off. I reluctantly tried the service, and within about 45 minutes I got the notification that I was connected to an agent. The agent was extremely helpful and answered all my questions about my business expenses while traveling in Germany. The peace of mind from getting official clarification directly from the IRS was absolutely worth it. I was able to confidently claim several business expenses from my international trip that I was uncertain about. Just wanted to follow up and say I was wrong in my initial assessment.

Be really careful with this! I tried deducting business expenses from a "business trip" to Paris where I mainly did vacation stuff but had two client meetings. Got audited and had to pay everything back plus penalties. The IRS specifically questioned why I was conducting business on a tourist visa.

As someone who does this regularly, here's my practical advice: only deduct expenses that are DIRECTLY related to your business activities. Don't try to deduct your flight to Italy or your entire accommodation. If you rent a workspace for a day, deduct that. If you take a taxi specifically to a client meeting, deduct that. If you have a business lunch, deduct 50% of that. Keep a separate credit card for business expenses and detailed logs of ALL business activities. Note start/end times, who you met with, and business purpose. Take photos of yourself at business meetings or workspaces as additional documentation. I've been doing this for years with no issues. The problems happen when people try to write off their entire vacation by having one "business meeting.

Don't overthink this! The IRS rules on business expenses apply the same way whether you're in Kansas or Kyoto. What matters is if the expense is ordinary and necessary for your business, not what country you're in or what visa you have. I write a travel blog and deduct parts of my trips all the time. The key is DOCUMENTATION and PRORATION. If 3 days of your 21-day trip are for business, you can deduct those specific expenses, but not the other 18 days or your flights. And seriously, stop worrying about the tourist visa thing. The IRS cares about proper reporting of income and expenses, not whether you technically violated another country's visa rules.