Most business-tax rules have permitted hotel and meal expenses away from home to be deductible. Now, new regulations have been proposed that would allow local lodging costs to be deductible, too, if they meet certain qualifications.

For instance, the lodging must be necessary for the employee to participate in business meetings, training activities or other business functions for the employer. Such stays should be for five days or less and cannot occur more than once in each calendar quarter. But lavish or extravagant lodging would not qualify, nor would staying over to work late in order to avoid a commute.

If the employer pays for the lodging or reimburses the worker, the amount will not be added to the employee's pay, and the costs are deductible by the employer. If the employee pays and is not reimbursed, costsare deductible as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the two-percent-of-AGI floor.