[EGreg]

Thanks for this! I didn’t know the guidelines were published. This is like FINCEN’s 2013 and 2019 guidances for cryptocurrencies.

“The limit on not-for-profit losses… does not apply to corporations except S Corporations”.

It doesn’t seem to mention LLCs. These are “disregarded entities” at the IRS level, so what does that mean? For tax purposes they are treated as sole proprietorships?

It seems to me there is some “minimum” level of bona-fide for-profit business that might be helpful to reach if you are a prolific traveler or movie goer or eat out in restaurants a lot. That’s my main point. A little bit of effort and you can write off thousands of dollars a year in business expenses while you also stand a chance of making money on top of it.

[slv77]

Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary to be deductible. A roofer would have a hard time justifying deducting a boat under the rule but a commercial fisherman wouldn’t have trouble.

Entertainment expenses are no longer deductible with recent tax law changes with few exceptions. It would be difficult today to get a CPA to sign-off off on a lot of what may have passed previously. A decent write-up can be found here - https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2023/nov/navigating-aro...

[EGreg]

* However, a taxpayer’s trade or business must be considered. For example, a theatrical performance, which would normally be considered an entertainment expense, would not be an entertainment expense for a professional theater critic attending the performance in a professional capacity (Regs. Secs. 1.274-11(b)(1)(iii), 1.274-12(a)(1), and 1.274-12(b)(3)).*

This seems to support what I’m suggesting

[ghaff]

I had a small "hobbyist" software business once upon a time. I made a point of only deducting expenses that seemed reasonable and not red flags for a software business, and only deducted up to just below my revenue (about $7K/year in the 90s). That seemed safe if maybe somewhat conservative.

Doesn't work for a lot of things (including reputable restaurant reviews) but bloggers also have the opportunity to get free stuff if they get noteworthy enough. Yes, it's a source of bias but so long as everything isn't how this thing they were given for free is fantastic, I don't have a problem with it. I've reviewed books (and a few other things) sent to me and I've given some pretty negative reviews as well as positive ones.