Can expenses for attending stockholders meetings be deducted in U.S. income taxes?

Question

I have a few different common stocks holdings from which I receive quarterly dividends. In addition I receive an annual notice of a stockholders meeting and of course the voting proxy.

I have often thought it would be interesting to attend an annual meeting, however the expense is pretty much unjustifiable. Now that I am retired, I certainly have the time to attend.

If I incur expenses to attend a shareholders meeting, is there a way to write off the expenses in my annual U.S. income tax filing? It seems like it could be considered a business expense that could be used to reduce the taxable amount of my dividends since I am dealing with protecting my investment.

Answer 1

Nope, not deductible.

It's true that some investment expenses are deductible, mainly as "miscellaneous itemized expenses", though only the amount that exceeds 2% of your adjusted gross income. But as explained in IRS Pub 550, which lays out the relevant rules:

Stockholders' meetings. You cannot deduct transportation and other expenses you pay to attend stockholders' meetings of companies in which you have no interest other than owning stock. This is true even if your purpose in attending is to get information that would be useful in making further investments.