What business travel expenses can I deduct in 2025?

Updated for tax year 2025 (filed in 2026) · IRS-sourced

For tax year 2025, you can generally deduct ordinary and necessary travel expenses if you travel away from your tax home for business. The trip must be directly related to your trade or business, and personal travel costs are not deductible.

What counts as deductible business travel

Under 26 CFR § 1.162-2, deductible traveling expenses generally include travel fares, meals, lodging, and expenses incident to travel, such as business-related phone charges and similar necessary costs. The expenses must be reasonable, necessary, and directly attributable to your business.

To deduct travel, you generally must be traveling away from your tax home for business. IRS travel guidance also says you need records of your expenses and any reimbursements or advances you receive.

If your trip is solely for business, your reasonable and necessary travel costs are generally deductible. If the trip is undertaken for other than business purposes, the travel fare and related travel costs are personal and not deductible.

Meals, lodging, and incidental costs

You can deduct a portion of meal costs if it is necessary for you to stop for substantial sleep or rest while traveling away from home on business. The IRS excerpt provided states that meals cannot be lavish or extravagant.

For 2025, business meals are generally 50% deductible. You can use actual meal costs if you keep records, and IRS guidance also refers to a standard meal allowance method in some cases, but the provided source excerpt does not include the 2025 per diem amounts.

Lodging is generally deductible when the trip is business-related and requires you to be away from your tax home. Incidental expenses connected to travel, such as business phone calls or similar necessary items, may also be deductible if they are ordinary and necessary.

Trips with both business and personal time

If a trip is solely for business, your travel fares, lodging, meals, and other necessary travel expenses are generally business deductions under 26 CFR § 1.162-2. If the trip is mainly personal, the basic travel fare is personal and not deductible.

For foreign travel, 26 CFR § 1.274-4 can limit deductions when you travel outside the United States and include substantial nonbusiness activity. In those cases, part of the travel expense may need to be allocated between business and personal days.

This means mixed-purpose trips require extra care. Business-only expenses during an otherwise personal trip may still be deductible, but the main transportation cost often is not if the trip itself was not primarily for business.

Local transportation and nondeductible commuting

Not all work-related driving or transportation is travel away from home. The IRS excerpt provided says you can generally deduct transportation costs for getting from one workplace to another in your business, visiting clients or customers, or going to a business meeting away from your regular workplace.

You also may be able to deduct the cost of getting from home to a temporary workplace when you have one or more regular places of work. But ordinary commuting between home and your regular workplace is generally personal and not deductible.

The key difference is whether the transportation is business travel between work locations or just commuting. Only the business portion is deductible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I deduct airfare for a business trip in 2025?

Yes, if the trip is solely for business, 26 CFR § 1.162-2 says reasonable and necessary travel fares are generally deductible. If the trip is mainly personal, the fare is generally a personal expense and not deductible.

Are meals on a business trip deductible in 2025?

Usually yes, but only 50% of qualifying business meals are deductible in 2025. The IRS travel guidance excerpt also says the meal expense cannot be lavish or extravagant and generally must relate to travel away from home on business.

Can I deduct hotel costs on an overnight work trip?

Generally yes. Under 26 CFR § 1.162-2, lodging is one of the travel expenses that can be deducted when it is reasonable, necessary, and directly attributable to business travel away from home.

Can I deduct a trip that mixes vacation and business?

Sometimes, but not always fully. 26 CFR § 1.162-2 says if the trip is undertaken for other than business purposes, the travel fares and related travel expenses are personal. For foreign travel, 26 CFR § 1.274-4 may require allocation if there is substantial personal activity.

Is commuting to my regular job deductible as business travel?

No, ordinary commuting is generally personal. The IRS transportation excerpt distinguishes deductible travel between workplaces, client visits, and trips to business meetings from nondeductible commuting between home and your regular workplace.

What records do I need for business travel deductions?

The IRS travel excerpt says that when you travel away from home on business, you must keep records of all expenses you have and any advances you receive. You should keep receipts, logs, and documentation showing the business purpose of the trip.