Straight Arrow
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Just don't pull a Dick Cheney on him ... or you'll lose a client! 
Taking clients hunting: Give me pointers
- Thread starter 2rocky
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SAJ-99
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I thought the TCJA switched entertainment to completely undeductible, regardless of whether or not someone said "how's business"?
This is my understanding as well.
I know @Big Fin has commented on this before. Not to solicit free advice, but any clarification would be most appreciated by the peanut gallery!
ignorethefringes
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What should be done and what is actually done are likely different things.
wolfpup
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Yes ... by the law, your hunting trip, sporting tickets and those sorts are not deductible and fall under entertainment. The meals that you pay for while at the event (if billed separately) (very important part) are 50% deductible. Alcohol is not deductible.
The company owners themselves need to look at the risk of deducting them as advertising / promotional costs or tucked into whatever makes sense in their line of business they are in to see if they can fly under the radar of getting that line item examined. If you get examined for that line item you will lose that deduction. Whether or not the deduction gets flagged by taxing authorities is a risk that owner will have to make.
rogerthat
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My vote is let’s retitle the thread to “How to have the most fun while cheating the tax man!”
rjthehunter
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You know SD buys birds from MacFarlane to release on public land, right? No different than going to a game farm. They both buy their birds from MacFarlane.
Forkyfinder
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See where it says "generally"..
. And then exceptions - "recreational expenses for a holiday party or summer picnic"
Idk im not the tax man but i know a lot of folks playing it like this. I dont have a setup or LLC deduct it. I guess you could say the IRS has fair chase with my income for the time being
I don’t have receipts or care to look them up, so I can’t refute your claim. I don’t think it matters since everybody and their brother raises and releases birds out here. My neighbor farms east of town on about 2500 acres and has about 350 in shelter belts and grass and he raises and releases about 500 a year by himself so his family and friends always have birds to chase.
I don’t agree with it, but it’s part of the culture out here.
Either way, I’d rather chase prairie grouse.
Also, I’d beg to differ that it is quite a bit different than hunting a preserve or game farm. GFP doesn’t send out hundreds/thousands of interns to tuck birds heads under their wings and stuff them under clumps of grass on every piece of public for folks to step off the short bus and blast to hell every morning from mid October until end of January.
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SAJ-99
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Probably true. It fits my rule #1- everyone cheats in their taxes. And I support the IRS starting at the top with offenders. By the time they get to us we will be dead.
2rocky
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Not a tax question.....
Benfromalbuquerque
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ismith
Well-known member
Fact checked and edited for accuracy,
I’m sorry for the part I played in derailing. I think the “What makes this a worthwhile Business entertainment expense?” part threw a few of us off of your trail.
The one point about letting the clients shoot first, especially if you’re with guys who don’t hunt much, is a great point. I’ve been on a few where you could clean up if you shot like you’re with your buddies.
Bottom line is just go have a good time, everyone else will too.
SAJ-99
Well-known member
Oh, but it is. isn’t every business question a tax question? But I digress.
If taking the client on a day to kill semi-chickens means they buy more product, DO IT!
rjthehunter
Well-known member
No, I don't have receipts...
I was told by a truck driver for MacFarlane that they have (or had) 2 trucks running back and forth between SD and WI constantly during hunting season. He said SD oversold the hunting and there wasn't enough birds to keep up with the demand.
I don't know why he would lie about that. I would understand why SD would want to hide buying birds for hunters expecting to hunt wild birds.
I'm not a phesant hunting purist, I enjoy hunting game farm birds and wild birds. Both birds run, fly, and get shot. I wonder what the number of phesants shot in a year are farm raised vs wild.
SD_Prairie_Goat
Well-known member
The way most of the hunting preserves work, every bird shot must be replaced with a pen raised bird.
Actual public land bird releases are pretty rare since they have such a low survival rate.
If you take guides and other things commercial bird production out of the mix, pen raised birds are rare. But you go out with a guide and high chances you're shooting nothing but pen raised
