Incidental expenses

Incidental expenses means fees and tips given to porters, baggage carriers, hotel staff, and staff on ships.

Incidental expenses do not include the following:

expenses for laundry, cleaning and pressing of clothing,

lodging taxes,

cost of telegrams or telephone calls,

transportation between places of lodging or business and places where meals are taken, or

the mailing cost of filing travel vouchers and paying employer-sponsored charge card billings.

You can use an optional method (instead of actual cost) for deducting incidental expenses only. The amount of the deduction is $5 a day. You can use this method only if you did not pay or incur any meal expenses. You cannot use this method on any day you use the standard meal allowance (defined later in the instructions for line 5).

Line 4: Enter other job-related expenses not listed on any other line of this form. For example:

expenses for business gifts, home office, trade publications, and so on

home office expenses

depreciation or an IRC § 179 deduction

For more information and special instructions on these expenses and how to report them, see Itemized deductions and review the 2017 federal Form 2106, Employee Business Expenses .

Note: If you are deducting depreciation or claiming an IRC § 179 deduction, see Itemized deductions and review federal Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization .

Do not include on line 4 any education expenses (for example, tuition, fees, and books). Enter these expenses on Form IT-196, line 22.

If line 4 is your only entry, do not complete this worksheet unless you are claiming:

performing arts-related business expenses as a qualified performing artist;

expenses for performing your job as a fee-basis state or local government official; or

impairment-related work expenses as an individual with a disability.

See the line 10 instructions. If you are not required to complete this worksheet, enter your expenses directly on Form IT-196, line 21 .

Line 5: Enter your allowable meals and entertainment expense. Include meals away from your tax home overnight and other business meals and entertainment.

Standard meal allowance is the federal meals and incidental expenses rate. Instead of actual cost, you may be able to claim the standard meal allowance for your daily meals and incidental expenses while away from your tax home overnight. Under this method, instead of keeping records of your actual meal expenses, you deduct a specified amount, depending on where you travel. However, you must still keep records to prove the time, place, and business purpose of your travel.

For most small localities in the United States, the meals and incidental expenses rate is $59 a day. Most major cities and many other localities in the United States qualify for higher rates. To find the rates that applied during 2023:

Visit Per Diem Rates or search the U.S General Services Administration website at gsa.gov/perdiem .

Select 2023 for the rates in effect for the period January 1, 2023–September 30, 2023.

Select Fiscal Year 2024 for the period October 1, 2023–December 31, 2023.

However, you can apply the rates in effect before October 1, 2023, for expenses of all travel within the United States for 2023 instead of the updated rates. For the period October 1, 2023–December 31, 2023, you must consistently use either the rates for the first nine months of 2023 or the updated rates. For locations outside the continental United States, the applicable rates are published each month. Visit Foreign Per Diem Rates or search the Office of Allowances on the U.S. Department of State website at https://aoprals.state.gov .