In general, business travel for spouses is considered a private cost and non-deductible if there is no direct relationship between the spouse and the business (paying for the travel).
Factors that might support a claim for the spouse’s travel expenses are:
- The companion spouse or family member is employed full time in the business and is actively engaged on business activities while overseas
- The taxpayer travelling on business must be accompanied because of ill health
- An associated overseas organisation expects that a spouse should accompany a taxpayer
- The taxpayer attends a conference and the spouse contributes in some integral way to the conference
Documentation supporting the claim should be kept; this includes the itinerary, details of the business conducted and business contacts made, the private portion of the travel and the total cost of the trip.
