Arthur Klages writes:
> My question regards the instance of writing a check to cover an
> invoice for a luncheon meeting. We charge 50% as meeting rent which
> is deductable, and 50% to dining expense , which is not
> deductable. How does one enter this transaction.

When you identify the debit, select "expense". Choose "Food & Drink"
for the category and change the amount by half. After you click OK,
you'll have an opportunity to identify the other half of the debit.
Select "expense" in the Identify Debit pulldown. Select "Meeting
Space Rental" as the category and leave the amount alone, it should be
correct.

You can experiment in your Demo Club:

http://www.bivio.com/demo

Go to Accounting > Accounts > Ameritrade. There's an Identify Debit
entry in the demo data.

Cheers,
Rob

The last e-mail I sent was incomplete.
 
My question regards the instance of writing a check to cover an invoice for a luncheon meeting. We charge 50% as meeting rent which is deductable, and 50% to dining expense , which is not deductable. How does one enter this transaction.
 
Arthur Klages

James H Tinsman III writes:
> For example, our club has an annual dinner meeting. We have dinner
> and then conduct the business of a meeting. This year we had the
> club pay for dinner. I thought we would be able to deduct 50% of
> the dinner expense. Is that not the case?

Investment clubs cannot deduct food and drink. I recommend you read
publication 550 from the IRS:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p550.pdf

There is a lot of material in the document. However one paragraph is
particularly relevant to your question:

    Stockholders' meetings. You cannot deduct transportation and
    other expenses that you pay to attend stockholders' meetings of
    companies in which you have no interest other than owning stock.
    This is true even if your purpose in attending is to get
    information that would be useful in making further investments.

My interpretation of this paragraph relates to investment club
meetings.

Cheers,
Rob

Disclaimer: statements are opinions expressed by bivio Customer
Support and are not official statements from the IRS. These
statements are not intended to replace professional tax or
accounting advice. When in doubt, follow the advice of your
local tax advisor or accountant who is familiar with your
particular circumstances.

Rob,
 
Based on your comments below have I misinterpretted the tax law. I was under the impression that 50% of meal expenses could be deducted if business was conducted during the meal.
 
For example, our club has an annual dinner meeting. We have dinner and then conduct the business of a meeting. This year we had the club pay for dinner. I thought we would be able to deduct 50% of the dinner expense. Is that not the case?
 
Jim Tinsman
 
Rob Nagler wrote:
> Arthur Klages writes:
> > My question regards the instance of writing a check to cover an
> > invoice for a luncheon meeting. We charge 50% as meeting rent which
> > is deductable, and 50% to dining expense , which is not
> > deductable. How does one enter this transaction.
>
> When you identify the debit, select "expense". Choose "Food & Drink"
> for the category and change the amount by half. After you click OK,
> you'll have an opportunity to identify the other half of the debit.
> Select "expense" in the Identify Debit pulldown. Select "Meeting
> Space Rental" as the category and leave the amount alone, it should be
> correct.
>
> You can experiment in your Demo Club:
>
> http://www.bivio.com/demo
>
> Go to Accounting > Accounts > Ameritrade. There's an Identify Debit
> entry in the demo data.
>
> Cheers,
> Rob