I'm wondering if there is a way to write off expenses used for dues and upkeep on a hunting lease by either creating a non-profit or LLC?

Does anyone currently have their lease setup like this and is there an advantage when it comes time to do your taxes?

There is a man in a gray suit waiting to talk to you on April 30th.

I would think even legit businesses that do this as business marketing don't try to write it off.

Talk about raising an IRS red flag.

"Please please come audit me!"

If you have a client with you during all trips, you can write it off...

The dues or membership fees typically aren't write offs but I know several people that have done so for 10+ years (one of which is a CPA) and have not had any issues. The dues were also less than $3K, so keep that in mind.

look up the "hobby rule".


Quick answer: generally, no.

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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If you have a client with you during all trips, you can write it off...

The dues or membership fees typically aren't write offs but I know several people that have done so for 10+ years (one of which is a CPA) and have not had any issues. The dues were also less than $3K, so keep that in mind.

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Check with your CPA on this. My understanding is that the most recent round of tax reform no longer allows for "entertainment" to be written off as a business expense.

As to the OP's question, my philosophy is don't invite The Man into your life with gray area shenanigans unless you are part of the connected, wealthy elite with an army of lawyers.

This is correct... unless it's categorized as a marketing expense.

you'd be surprised. depending on the nature of the lease, how it is structured and what not, it very well could be defended as entertainment with clients (prior to new tax law change). In some cases it isn't more than a rounding error to companies.

There are also people that run and operate legitimate hunting operations. It would not be a stretch in some scenarios to have a separate business entity as well.

Point I am making is that it is not an automatic "no" or even any indication of "please come audit me".

Steve, if you would like to talk about audit risk and statistics and the IRS technology being used I would be happy to have a separate discussion about it.

What if one of your major clients owned the ranch you lease? You also take clients with you and pay for them and you to shoot 50k worth of animals from said ranch? What can a company take off? All of it?

I'm not a tax guy so I defer. But I'm not going to ever be that creative on my taxes. I do not even write off my home office. However low the odds of a tax man looking at my filings it is there.

I just don't see how it's worth it.

I'm not trying to write off my lease dues and other expenses related to the up keep of the lease on this year's taxes. I'm looking at options for the future and while I also believe it is a long shot it is still worth doing some digging.

This isn't a property where you have a bunch of other strangers on the lease or one where you having to bring a trailer or get a hotel room. I have the exclusive year round rights to the property and no one lives on the land. There are buildings and a water and electricity system.

So could I create an LLC? Charge people to come and hunt, use it for business clients, rent it out to organizations for team building, donate weekends to non-profits (Scouting, Church, Big Brother Big Sister), etc. As a business write off expenses for maintenance, new construction, time and resources donated, services (septic), feeders, stands, corn, cameras, etc.

Has anyone done this before or looked into it?

I would advise you to read the regulations. You can, you can't, you can....you can't......only you know the details.

For example....I have exclusive hunting rights....I can. You have exclusive hunting rights with the exception that the rancher gets to take his grandson hunting...you can't.

By the property, don't lease it

would if I could. Property owner is a paper company that grows pine trees

New tax law did away with expense write off for entertainment.

Schall 02 said:

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New tax law did away with expense write off for entertainment.

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So make it marketing/promotion.

Become a wildlife artist, snap a few photos from the blind, and write off every penny spent on your hunting trips by calling it research.

Gramercy Riffs said:

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Become a wildlife artist, snap a few photos from the blind, and write off every penny spent on your hunting trips by calling it research.

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Or a taxidermist