Is Veterinary CE Travel Tax Deductible?

By Bethany Weinheimer, DVM · Updated October 20, 2026 · 8 min read

Short answer: if you're self-employed or own your practice, CE travel that maintains or improves your veterinary skills can often be deducted as a business expense. If you're a W-2 employee, you generally can't deduct it on your federal return, so the better path is getting your practice to pay. Below are the main IRS rules, summarized from IRS Publication 463.

This is general information, not tax advice. Rules change and your situation matters, so confirm with your accountant before you book.

Who can deduct CE travel

Practice owners and self-employed veterinary professionals (including relief vets paid as contractors) can generally deduct ordinary and necessary costs of work-related education, including travel, when the education maintains or improves skills used in their current work.

Employees generally can't deduct unreimbursed job expenses on their federal return. That deduction was suspended from 2018, and the 2025 tax law made the suspension permanent. Some states, including California and New York, still allow it on the state return, so ask your accountant. For most employees, the money is in your CE allowance, so see how to get your practice to pay for CE travel.

Trips within the United States

For a trip that's primarily for business, travel to and from the destination is deductible, plus lodging and other costs on business days. Meals are generally 50% deductible. Personal side trips and extra vacation days aren't. A trip to Hawaii counts as travel within the United States.

Trips outside the United States

Under IRS rules, foreign travel counts as entirely for business, with no need to split costs, if any of these applies:

You were outside the US for 7 consecutive days or less (don't count the day you leave, do count the day you return)
You were away more than a week, but less than 25% of the time was spent on non-business activities
You had no substantial control over arranging the trip (this mostly applies to employees, not owners)
A personal vacation wasn't a major consideration

Otherwise, you split travel costs between business and personal days.

CE outside North America has an extra test

For a convention, seminar or similar meeting held outside the "North American area," the IRS also requires that it be directly related to your business and as reasonable to hold there as within North America. The North American area includes the US, Canada and Mexico, plus several Caribbean and Central American countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and Jamaica. Destinations such as South Africa, Italy, Peru, Jordan and Brazil are outside it, so talk to your accountant about how the test applies.

CE on cruise ships

Deductions for meetings held on cruise ships are capped at $2,000 per year, and only if the ship is US-registered and every port of call is in the US or its territories. Signed statements are required, including one from the sponsoring organization.

Partners and companions

A spouse, partner or friend's costs generally aren't deductible unless they have a genuine business reason to be there. On Vet Passport trips, Explorer tickets are priced separately so your CE costs are easy to document.

For practice owners: CE as a tax-smart retention benefit

If you own a practice, paying for your team's CE is one of the most tax-efficient perks you can offer. Under IRS Publication 15-B, job-related education an employer provides can be a working condition fringe benefit: excluded from the employee's wages when the education maintains or improves skills needed in their current job, the same test that would let them deduct it if they paid for it themselves.

In practice, that means:

The practice deducts it. CE for your team is generally a deductible business expense, including registration, travel and lodging, with meals generally 50% deductible.
Your employee pays no tax on it. Qualifying CE you pay for isn't added to their wages, so there's no income or payroll tax on it.
Every dollar goes further than a bonus. A $3,000 bonus is taxed before your associate sees it. $3,000 of qualifying CE reaches them in full, and the practice deducts either one.

Educational assistance programs. Practices can also set up a written Section 127 educational assistance program, which lets you provide up to $5,250 a year per employee tax-free. It covers tuition, fees, books and supplies, but not lodging, meals or transportation, so for CE travel the working condition route is usually the better fit.

Why it helps retention. CE that people genuinely look forward to is a perk your team will talk about, and one that builds skills you get back in the clinic. Many owners send a top performer, or a pair of colleagues, as a thank-you. Keep it clean by paying the CE portion directly, collecting the itemized receipt and CE certificates, and leaving partners' tickets and personal extras to the employee.

More detail for owners: do veterinary practices get a tax break for paying for employee CE?

Owners of an S corporation who hold more than 2% of the company follow different fringe benefit rules for themselves. Ask your accountant how your own CE should be handled.

Keep good records

An itemized receipt that lists the CE portion
The CE program, with session times and RACE numbers
Your CE certificates
A simple log of business and personal days

Frequently asked questions

Can veterinarians deduct CE travel?

Practice owners and self-employed veterinarians can often deduct CE travel that maintains or improves their skills, under the IRS rules in Publication 463. W-2 employees generally can't deduct unreimbursed job expenses on their federal return. This is general information, not tax advice.

Is international CE travel deductible?

It can be. The IRS treats foreign travel as entirely business if you're away 7 days or less, or if less than 25% of the trip is personal, among other tests. Meetings held outside the North American area must also be as reasonable to hold there as in North America. Confirm with your accountant.

Can employees deduct CE they pay for themselves?

Generally not on a federal return. The deduction for unreimbursed employee expenses was suspended in 2018 and made permanent in 2025. Employees usually do better asking their practice to cover CE travel from their CE allowance.

Is CE a tax-free benefit when a practice pays for it?

Usually, yes. Under IRS Publication 15-B, job-related education an employer provides can be excluded from the employee's wages as a working condition fringe benefit if it maintains or improves skills needed in their current job. The practice can generally deduct the cost as a business expense. This is general information, not tax advice.

Are meals on a CE trip deductible?

Generally 50% of business meal costs are deductible for those who can deduct business travel.

Get first pick of 2027 trips

Join the free waitlist. No payment, and you'll hear first when booking opens.

Keep reading

About the author. Bethany Weinheimer, DVM. Founder, Vet Passport and The Evolved Vets. Career emergency veterinarian. More about Vet Passport.