es a deduction for the total cost of driving to and from New York (you obviously incur the same driving expenses whether your spouse accompanies you or not), you are entitled to a per-day deduction for your hotel room of the entire single rate of $200, rather than half the double rate, or $90. To help safeguard your deduction in case the IRS questions it, remember to have the hotel bill note the single rate, or be sure to get a rate sheet.

Question: Can I deduct money spent for magazines purc

Question: I went to New York from the West Coast to attend an ASMP members' meeting and photography seminar last spring. I'm pretty sure that I'm entitled to claim some deductions. But what sorts of expenses can I deduct, and can I deduct them totally?

Answer: You get to deduct 100 percent of what you spend for the attendance fee, tapes of sessions, books on photography and the like, plus travel between your home and New York and expenditures for hotels. There's a limitation, though, for meals not covered by the attendance fee, including both what you eat en route and food consumed while you're in New York: Deduct only 50 percent of those expenditures.

Question: My spouse (who isn't a photographer and didn't attend the conference) came along on the trip. Any chance that any of my spouse's expenses qualify as deductible?

Answer: There's no deduction whatever for the portion of the outlays attributable to your spouse's travel, meals, and lodging - with a limited exception, one that will allow relatively few freelancers to salvage deductions for a mate's travel expenses. To qualify for that exception, these requirements must be met: (1) The spouse (or dependent, or any other individual) accompanying you on business travel is a bona fide employee of the outfit that pays for the trip (in this case, your freelance business); (2) the spouse has undertaken the travel for a bona fide business reason; and (3) the spouse is otherwise entitled to deduct the expenses.

Special tip: Take heart. Some often-overlooked tax relief remains available for lodging costs, even when your spouse, significant squeeze, or someone else tags along only for fun. You are entitled to a deduction for lodging based on the single-rate cost of similar accommodations for you - not half the double rate you actually paid for the two of you.

Let's say the two of you drive to New York, and you stay at a hotel in New York where rooms go for $200 for a single and $180 for a double. Besides a deduction for the total cost of driving to and from New York (you obviously incur the same driving expenses whether your spouse accompanies you or not), you are entitled to a per-day deduction for your hotel room of the entire single rate of $200, rather than half the double rate, or $90. To help safeguard your deduction in case the IRS questions it, remember to have the hotel bill note the single rate, or be sure to get a rate sheet.

Question: Can I deduct money spent for magazines purch

for meals not covered by the attendance fee, including both what you eat en route and food consumed while you're in New York: Deduct only 50 percent of those expenditures.

Question: My spouse (who isn't a photographer and didn't attend the conference) came along on the trip. Any chance that any of my spouse's expenses qualify as deductible?

Answer: There's no deduction whatever for the portion of the outlays attributable to your spouse's travel, meals, and lodging - with a limited exception, one that will allow relatively few freelancers to salvage deductions for a mate's travel expenses. To qualify for that exception, these requirements must be met: (1) The spouse (or dependent, or any other individual) accompanying you on business travel is a bona fide employee of the outfit that pays for the trip (in this case, your freelance business); (2) the spouse has undertaken the travel for a bona fide business reason; and (3) the spouse is otherwise entitled to deduct the expenses.

Special tip: Take heart. Some often-overlooked tax relief remains available for lodging costs, even when your spouse, significant squeeze, or someone else tags along only for fun. You are entitled to a deduction for lodging based on the single-rate cost of similar accommodations for you - not half the double rate you actually paid for the two of you.

Let's say the two of you drive to New York, and you stay at a hotel in New York where rooms go for $200 for a single and $180 for a double. Besides a deduction for the total cost of driving to and from New York (you obviously incur the same driving expenses whether your spouse accompanies you or not), you are entitled to a per-day deduction for your hotel room of the entire single rate of $200, rather than half the double rate, or $90. To help safeguard your deduction in case the IRS questions it, remember to have the hotel bill note the single rate, or be sure to get a rate sheet.

Question: Can I deduct money spent for magazines purc

ited exception, one that will allow relatively few freelancers to salvage deductions for a mate's travel expenses. To qualify for that exception, these requirements must be met: (1) The spouse (or dependent, or any other individual) accompanying you on business travel is a bona fide employee of the outfit that pays for the trip (in this case, your freelance business); (2) the spouse has undertaken the travel for a bona fide business reason; and (3) the spouse is otherwise entitled to deduct the expenses.

Special tip: Take heart. Some often-overlooked tax relief remains available for lodging costs, even when your spouse, significant squeeze, or someone else tags along only for fun. You are entitled to a deduction for lodging based on the single-rate cost of similar accommodations for you - not half the double rate you actually paid for the two of you.

Let's say the two of you drive to New York, and you stay at a hotel in New York where rooms go for $200 for a single and $180 for a double. Besides a deduction for the total cost of driving to and from New York (you obviously incur the same driving expenses whether your spouse accompanies you or not), you are entitled to a per-day deduction for your hotel room of the entire single rate of $200, rather than half the double rate, or $90. To help safeguard your deduction in case the IRS questions it, remember to have the hotel bill note the single rate, or be sure to get a rate sheet.

Question: Can I deduct money spent for magazines purc

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Special tip: Take heart. Some often-overlooked tax relief remains available for lodging costs, even when your spouse, significant squeeze, or someone else tags along only for fun. You are entitled to a deduction for lodging based on the single-rate cost of similar accommodations for you - not half the double rate you actually paid for the two of you.

Let's say the two of you drive to New York, and you stay at a hotel in New York where rooms go for $200 for a single and $180 for a double. Besides a deduction for the total cost of driving to and from New York (you obviously incur the same driving expenses whether your spouse accompanies you or not), you are entitled to a per-day deduction for your hotel room of the entire single rate of $200, rather than half the double rate, or $90. To help safeguard your deduction in case the IRS questions it, remember to have the hotel bill note the single rate, or be sure to get a rate sheet.

Question: Can I deduct money spent for magazines purc

es a deduction for the total cost of driving to and from New York (you obviously incur the same driving expenses whether your spouse accompanies you or not), you are entitled to a per-day deduction for your hotel room of the entire single rate of $200, rather than half the double rate, or $90. To help safeguard your deduction in case the IRS questions it, remember to have the hotel bill note the single rate, or be sure to get a rate sheet.

Question: Can I deduct money spent for magazines purchased at a newsstand for pre-query research? These are not magazines I'm now writing for but magazines I hope to write for. And if I can: Where on Form 1040 do I list those deductions?

Answer: The law allows you to deduct business-related publications, and these magazines are in that category. Like your other photography expenses, you claim them on Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business) of Form 1040.

Question: I went to a get-together with some fellow photographers. There wasn't a speaker; it was more of a social event. But I see it as networking with my professional colleagues, and most of the talk was about work-related issues. Can I take a business-expense deduction for the cost of getting there? How about my cash contribution to the refreshments for the group?

Answer: The event does not qualify. You're entitled to claim the entire cost of round-trip travel between your home and the party's site. For travel by bus, train, or taxi, just keep track of your fares and claim them as business expenses; for auto travel, you can claim actual expenses or a standard mileage allowance. That standard allowance for tax year 2006 is 44.5 cents a mile. For 2005, it is 48.5 cents a mile for the final four months and 40.5 cents for the first eight months. Whether you claim actual expenses or use the mileage allowance, remember to deduct parking fees and bridge, tunnel and turnpike tolls that you pay while you are on business, too.

As for other outlays, they fall into the category of meals and entertainment; like the food consumed on that trip to New York, they're only 50 percent deductible.