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The short answer
A US freelancer can deduct travel to Nigeria when the trip is for business, but IRS Publication 463 applies special foreign travel rules: a trip counts as entirely for business if it lasted a week or less, or if less than 25% of the time abroad was spent on non-business activities. A trip primarily for business but with more personal time must be split by days, and a trip that is mainly personal, such as a family December visit with one client meeting, gives no deduction for the fares.
For many Nigerian freelancers in the US, a trip home is rarely just one thing. You may see a Lagos client, attend a pitch in Abuja, then spend a week with family in Enugu. The IRS lets you deduct the business part of travel outside the United States, but its rules for foreign trips are stricter than for a domestic one. Here is how Publication 463 frames them, with a worked split. This is information, not tax advice.
First: is the trip business travel at all?
Publication 463 says travel expenses are deductible when you are travelling away from your tax home, which it defines as your regular place of business, and you need to sleep or rest to meet the demands of the work. For a freelancer based in the US, the tax home is where you run the business, not Nigeria, so a trip to Nigeria is away from home.
The business purpose must be real and recorded: a client meeting, a workshop you are delivering, a site visit for a project. Publication 463 requires records of the time, place and business purpose of the travel.
The foreign travel tests
| Situation | What Publication 463 says | Fares |
|---|---|---|
| Entirely for business | No personal activity on the trip | Fully deductible |
| Treated as entirely for business | Abroad a week or less, combining business and non-business; or less than 25% of the time abroad on non-business activities; or you had no substantial control over the trip (rare for a freelancer) | Fully deductible |
| Primarily business, more personal time | Allocate between business days and non-business days | Business share only |
| Primarily personal | The entire cost of the trip is personal | Not deductible |
Business days include days travelling to and from the destination, days your presence was required, and certain weekends that fall between business days. Even on a mainly personal trip, expenses on the days you actually work there, such as a taxi to a client's office, can still be business costs; it is the fare and the trip as a whole that become personal.
Worked example of a split (illustration only)
- The trip
- 16 days outside the US: 2 travel days, 8 days of client workshops in Lagos and Abuja, 6 days with family
- Test
- Longer than a week, and non-business days are 6 of 16, or 37.5%, which is more than 25%. Primarily business, so allocate
- Business share
- Travel days count as business days: 10 / 16 = 62.5%
- Return fare
- $1,600 x 62.5% = $1,000 deductible
- Hotel on workshop days
- 8 nights at $120 = $960, deductible in full as business days
- Meals on business days
- $400 actual, deductible at 50% = $200
- Family days
- Hotel, meals and local travel for the 6 family days: not deductible
Shorten the family part to 4 days in that example and the non-business share becomes 4 of 14 days, under 30%, still above 25%. At 3 of 13 days, about 23%, the trip falls under the 25% test and the whole fare is deductible. The arithmetic matters, so plan the days and keep the calendar.
Which costs count
- Air fare between the US and Nigeria, subject to the tests above.
- Baggage charges for business materials, airport transfers, taxis and ride-hailing between your lodging and client sites.
- Lodging on business days.
- Meals on business days, generally at 50% of the unreimbursed cost. Publication 463 says the 50% limit applies whether you use actual costs or a standard meal allowance.
- Business calls and data you need while there, dry cleaning on a longer trip.
For meals outside the continental US, Publication 463 says the Department of State sets per diem rates for foreign areas. Check the rate for Lagos or Abuja for your travel dates on the State Department's per diem page rather than relying on an old figure.
Records that make a Nigeria trip defensible
- A short itinerary showing which days were business and which personal.
- Emails or contracts with Nigerian clients setting the meetings or workshops.
- Receipts for fares, hotels and meals. Naira receipts should be converted to dollars at a rate for the date, recorded consistently; see converting naira amounts for Schedule C.
- Payment records from your account showing who paid what and when.
- Evidence of the income the trip produced, such as the invoice for the workshop.
Where Pryme fits
Paying for a Lagos hotel and client lunches in naira, then reconstructing dollar figures in April, is where most trip records fall apart. A Pryme Business Account holds naira and dollars side by side, so spending in Nigeria is in naira with a dated record, and Swap shows the rate and the fee before you approve a conversion. You can also generate a verifiable statement for your preparer.
Questions people ask
Can I deduct my flight to Nigeria if I see one client?
Only if the trip is primarily for business. One meeting during a mainly family visit makes the fare a personal cost, though costs on the meeting day itself may still be business expenses.
What is the 25% rule for foreign business travel?
Publication 463 treats a trip outside the US of more than a week as entirely business if less than 25% of the total time abroad was spent on non-business activities.
Do travel days count as business days?
Yes. Publication 463 counts days spent travelling to and from the business destination as business days.
Can I deduct my spouse's ticket if they come to the meeting?
Generally not, unless they are your employee travelling for a real business purpose.
Sources
- IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses · accessed Oct 2026
- IRS: What kind of records should I keep (reviewed 3 Aug 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- IRS: Yearly average currency exchange rates (reviewed 17 Sep 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.