If you are a business executive, then you know that it is imperative to keep accurate records of all your business transactions for tax purposes. If you are one of the many busy business executives that use air charters to fulfill part of your business transportation needs, then you might be sitting on top of a plethora of transportation deductions for your business.



The best way to determine if you can take this type of deduction is to arrange all of your receipts for business travel that you have accumulated over the past year. Divide them into two piles--the receipts that correspond to business travel, and then another pile for trips that were taken for personal, non-business related travel. The charter flights for personal trips would not be eligible for a business tax deduction because they are not business related. But be sure to take a look at them at this time. This will give you an opportunity to plan ahead for next year. Will any of these types of flights be recurring from year to year? Is there some way that any of those trips could include a business purpose? If so, then you may be able to use them next year as a business tax write-off if you can make sure that those trips were taken for a reason related to your business.

The other stack of receipts that account for your business-related travel expenses accrued from the use of air charters can be a valuable source of tax deductions for your corporation. When you take a trip to a foreign country solely for the purpose of conducting business, then you are allowed to take a tax deduction for all of your travel costs, which includes the airfare and other transportation costs as well as hotels, and you can also deduct half the cost of your meals. During times of escalating business costs, this deduction can make charter flights pay for themselves, saving your corporation much in cash outlay.

It is possible for a portion of your air charters' fees to be deductible if you combine a business trip with a pleasure trip. If you spend several days in a foreign country, and seven days were spent entirely on business, while a few more were spent on personal travel, then you can deduct meals, lodging expenses and some incidental expenses for the days spent on business, in addition to being able to deduct all travel expenses. You can also spend some of the time for personal pursuits, but the time can equal no more than 25% of the total time spent on the entire trip. So save some money and plan ahead the next time you use charter flights.