Can I deduct travel expenses to Aruba if I own a rental property there?

This answer was provided by Mark Misselbeck, CPA, from Levine, Katz, Nannis & Solomon PC in Needham.

Q: If you build a home in Aruba, which is your second home, and you plan renting it out most of the year, can you take your flights back and forth as a rental deduction on schedule E? - Rita, Acushnet

A: For the Aruba rental, you would need to convince an IRS agent (in case of inquiry) that the principal reason for the trip was related to the rental property in order to deduct the air fare for yourself (if your spouse goes along, they would also have to be devoted to working on the rental property, in order to deduct their air fare). Beyond that, you would have to split other costs between those days primarily spent on servicing the rental property (a majority of the typical 8 hour day spent on activities having to do with maintaining, renting or repairing the rental property) vs. personal (i.e., vacation activities). On those days spent with a majority of time on the rental, the lodging, meals and incidental expenses would be deductible (with a 50% reduction required for meals and entertainment expenses, as required for all such items that are deductible for taxes).