I paid an airfare for business travel, but was later paid back by a friend. Can I claim this as a travel expense assuming that I report the amount paid to me as income?

[justin14]

I am self-employed and attended a trade show in another city where I met with clients. I traveled there with another self-employed individual who I often work with. I paid for the airfare out of pocket, but was later paid back an equal amount by this other individual.

Do I need to include the "reimbursement" amount in my income? If so, am I still able to claim the airfare as a travel expense?

The person who paid me just treated the payment in the same way they would if I had been doing other contract work for them. Seeing as they are also self-employed, would that mean their payment to me would not technically qualify as a "reimbursement" anyway, at least in the legal sense?

The first condition of reimbursements, as defined by the CRA, states that "the reimbursement is paid to an employee, partner or volunteer", and I am not any of these three things. I am simply a friend of the person, and they insisted that I should attend this trade show to the point that they paid me back for what I spent on the plane ticket.

If that is the case then it seems like I would need to claim the amount as income, however I would still be able to write off the airfare amount as a travel expense so that I'm not paying tax on the amount that was not part of my net income.

Is that correct?

Thanks.

[Delphision · Accepted solution]

The reimbursement does not have to be claimed as income.  It cannot be reported as a deduction because in the end, you did not incur the expense.  The individual who paid it will undoubtedly be claiming the expense and it is a valid expense to the other person.