Travel Expenses

Florida: I have owned a vacation/second home in Florida for four years. I have flown to Florida from Virginia (and rented a car) two or three times a month since purchasing the home.

In the past year I purchased four rental properties, and will be purchasing more. I manage the properties myself.

I would be going to my home in Florida two or three times a month regardless of whether I owned the investment properties. My question is, can I start claiming the cost of the airline tickets and car rental as business/rental expenses since I visit each property each time I come to Florida (and perform maintenance on the properties)? Would the IRS question this since I would be coming to Florida each month whether I owned the properties or not?

[abezon]

The IRS will indeed question that deduction. You can only deduct a business expense that is "reasonable & necessary". Since you could hire a management firm or a maintenance person without going to FL, the IRS would disallow some or all of the travel deduction. You could claim a portion of the rental car expenses if you kept a mileage log & prorated the total cost (rent + gas) between business miles & personal miles. You might be able to take a portion of the air fare, but this is dicier. You'd need time logs to show how much time was rental related & how much was not.

abezon, thank you very much for your response and guidance. It is much appreciated.