uh huh, I prepare taxes for a living.
directly from the IRS website:
www.irs.gov
Examples of Nondeductible Entertainment
Entertainment events.
Generally, you can't deduct any expense for an entertainment event. This includes expenses for entertaining guests at nightclubs; at social, athletic, and sporting clubs; at theaters; at sporting events; on yachts; or on hunting, fishing, vacation, and similar trips.
Entertainment facilities.
Generally, you can’t deduct any expense for the use of an entertainment facility. This includes expenses for depreciation and operating costs such as rent, utilities, maintenance, and protection.
An entertainment facility is any property you own, rent, or use for entertainment. Examples include a yacht, hunting lodge, fishing camp, swimming pool, tennis court, bowling alley, car, airplane, apartment, hotel suite, or home in a vacation resort.
Club dues and membership fees.
You can’t deduct dues (including initiation fees) for membership in any club organized for business, pleasure, recreation, or other social purposes.
This rule applies to any membership organization if one of its principal purposes is either:
- To conduct entertainment activities for members or their guests; or
- To provide members or their guests with access to entertainment facilities, discussed later.
The purposes and activities of a club, not its name, will determine whether or not you can deduct the dues. You can’t deduct dues paid to:
- Country clubs,
- Golf and athletic clubs,
- Airline clubs,
- Hotel clubs, and
- Clubs operated to provide meals under circumstances generally considered to be conducive to business discussions.
Gift or entertainment.
Any item that might be considered either a gift or entertainment generally will be considered entertainment. However, if you give a customer packaged food or beverages that you intend the customer to use at a later date, treat it as a gift.
