Marilyn, a business executive who lives and works in Cleveland, accepts a temporary out-of-town assignment in Atlanta for a period of ten months.
Marilyn leaves her husband and children in Cleveland and rents an apartment in Atlanta during the ten-month period. Marilyn incurs the following expenses, none of which are reimbursed by her employer:
Airfare to and from Atlanta $ 800
Airfare for weekend trips to visit her family 8,000
Apartment rent 10,000
Meals in Atlanta 8,500
Entertainment of customers 2,000
Total $29,300
a. Which of the expenditures listed above (if any) are deductible by Marilyn (before any limitations are applied)?
b. Are each of these expenditures classified as for AGI or from AGI deductions?
c. If Marilyn's AGI is $120,000, what is the amount of the deduction for the expenditures?
d. Do the tax consequences change if Marilyn's assignment is for a period of more than one year and is for an indefinite period rather than a temporary period?
e. Do the tax consequences in Parts a through c change if it was realistically expected that the work would be completed in ten months but after the ten-month period Marilyn is asked to continue for seven more months and if an additional $10,000 of travel expenses are incurred during the extended period?