Small Business

Amounts you pay your trade association are deductible if the trade association is conducted for the purpose of furthering the business interests of its members.
The amount is deductible as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on IRS Schedule A subject to the 2% MAGI limitation.

Generally, the IRS requires 2 types of records for substantiation. You should maintain a diary (calendar diary recommended)or account book to list the place, time, who you met with, and the business purpose of your travel and entertainment.
Receipts, itemized bills or similar statements for lodging are needed regardless of the amount.
For other expenses of $75 or more a receipt is needed. A bill should show the amount of the expense, the date of the expense, where the expense was incurred and the nature of the expense.

Yes. While away from home on business trips, if you find it difficult to mainatin the actual records of meal costs, you may use a standard IRS meal allowance. The basic meal allowance in the U.S. for the current year is $52 a day.
There are higher high-cost major metropolitan area rates available.
You must keep a diary which includes the time, place and business purpose of the trip.
Speak to your local CPA for the meal allowance in your area in your state. The rates are available online at www.gsa.gov/perdiem and in IRS Pub 1542.

Trips to attend a stockholder meeting are not deductible. In rare situations when a majority stockholder attended a meeting to present a resolution, he was allowed a deduction.
Most stockholders who attend meetings to pick up information for future investment decisions are not allowed a deduction.

If you are allowed a deduction for courses that maintain or improve your job skills and do not qulaify you for a new profession then the costs of local transportation and travel away from home are deductible.
Report these costs as an itemized deduction on IRS Schedule A subject to the 2% MAGI limitation.

Swimming lessons even if prescribed by a doctor are nondeductible.

The costs of purchasing and maintaining a guide dog or other animal for a visually-impaired, hearing-impaired or physically disabled person is deductible as a medical itemized deduction on IRS Schedule A subject to the 10% / 7.5% MAGI limitation.

Most individuals and many sole proprietors with no inventory use the cash method because they find it easier to keep cash method records.
However, if an inventory is necessary to account for your income, you must generally use an accrual method of accounting for sales and purchases.
Generally, if you produce, purchase, or sell merchandise in your business, you must keep an inventory and use the accrual method for purchases and sales of merchandise.
However, the following taxpayers can use the cash method of accounting even if they produce, purchase, or sell merchandise. These taxpayers can also account for inventorial items as materials and supplies that are not incidental . A qualifying taxpayer under Revenue Procedure 2001-10 in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2001-2. or A qualifying small business taxpayer under Revenue Procedure 2002-28 in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2002-18. You are a qualifying taxpayer if: Your average annual gross receipts for each prior tax year ending on or after December 17, 1998, is $1 million or less. (Your average annual gross receipts for a tax year is figured by adding the gross receipts for that tax year and the 2 preceding tax years and dividing by 3.) Your business is not a tax shelter, as defined under section 448(d)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
You are a qualifying small business taxpayer if: Your average annual gross receipts for each prior tax year ending on or after December 31, 2000, is more than $1 million but not more than $10 million. (Your average annual gross receipts for a tax year is figured by adding the gross receipts for that tax year and the 2 preceding tax years and dividing the total by 3.)
You are not prohibited from using the cash method under section 448 of the Internal Revenue Code.Your principal business activity is an eligible business (described in Publication 538 and Revenue Procedure 2002-28) Business not owned or not in existence for 3 years.
If you did not own your business for all of the 3-tax-year period used in figuring your average annual gross receipts, include the period of any predecessor.
If your business has not been in existence for the 3-tax-year period, base your average on the period it has existed including any short tax years, annualizing the short tax year's gross receipts.

Taxpayers are entitled to deduct any expenses for using their homes for business purposes if the expenses are attributable to a portion of the home or separate structure used Exclusively and On A Regular Basis as the principal place of any business carried on by the taxpayer (occasional use is not sufficient) or a place of business that is used by clients, customers, patients, in meeting or dealing with the taxpayer in the normal course of business. If the taxpayer is an employee, the business use of the home must also be for the convenience of the employer. A home office deduction may be claimed if the taxpayer regularly and exclusively uses part of the home for conducting the administrative or management activities of the business. Home office expenses may include real estate taxes, mortgage interest and operating expenses such as insurance and utilities and also depreciation. Home office deductions may be limited. The allowed deduction is calculated and reported on IRS Form 8829 and then transferred to the taxpayers Schedule C. There are certain tax consequences of claiming a office in the home deduction. A consequence occurs when the taxpayer sells his residence. Current law allows a $500,000 exclusion on the sale of a residence ($250,000 for non joint returns). If a residence is sold with a home office, the gross sales price must be apportioned over the residence and the business office. A taxable gain on the sale may occur. If a residence is sold without a home office the full exclusion may be taken. Some CPA's suggest not claiming a office in your home for the two years prior to the sale of the residence. Speak to your local CPA about your specific circumstances to work out a strategy that works for you.