Does ExpenseBot warn me about the IRS $25 gift limit per client?

Yes. ExpenseBot has a dedicated Realtor Gift Limit Checker report that audits your gift spending against IRS and CRA limits and flags every recipient who is at risk of having gifts disallowed at audit.

Why this matters

Both the IRS and CRA cap how much you can deduct in client gifts:

• USA — IRS §274(b) limits gift deductions to $25 per recipient per tax year. Anything beyond $25 is non-deductible. (Promotional items under $4 with your name on them, and entertainment you're separately claiming, don't count toward the limit.)
• Canada — no hard cap, but the CRA expects gift amounts to be reasonable. Practical heuristic: gifts over $500 CAD per recipient trigger a "verify reasonableness" flag.
• Other countries — country-specific rules apply; ExpenseBot shows a total-by-recipient breakdown without flagging.

Realtors are particularly exposed because closing gifts, housewarming baskets, and "thank you for the referral" gifts add up fast — and the limit is per recipient, not per gift.

How the checker works

1. Run the report. From My Reports → Create A Report, pick Realtor Gift Limit Checker (only visible if you have at least one gift-tagged receipt).
2. Pick a year. ExpenseBot pulls every receipt with a gift tag — Realtor – Gifts, Client Gifts, Wedding – Gifts, or any tag ending in Gifts — and groups them by recipient.
3. See the flags. Recipients are sorted by year-to-date total. USA users see:
   • 🟢 Under $25 — fully deductible
   • 🟡 At limit — careful, one more gift will exceed
   • 🔴 Over $25 — excess is non-deductible, shown in a separate column Canadian users see a "verify reasonableness" flag at $500 CAD instead.
4. Catch missing recipients. A receipt with no recipient identified shows as ? so you can fix it before tax time.

How ExpenseBot identifies the recipient

The recipient comes from one of four sources, checked in order:

1. Tag sub-name — if your tag is Realtor – Gifts – Alice Johnson, ExpenseBot uses Alice Johnson.
2. Notes column — text like Paid for Alice or For: Alice in the Notes column. You can also write paidfor:Alice directly into the email subject when forwarding the receipt.
3. Merchant name — fallback if neither tag nor note specifies the recipient. Flagged with ? so you know to fix it.
4. Unassigned — receipts with no signal at all roll up under "Unassigned" and don't count toward any recipient's limit.

Where to add the recipient name

Easiest — when forwarding the receipt email, add paidfor:Alice Johnson to the subject. One field, no app login needed.

Alternative — open the spreadsheet, find the receipt, and write Paid for Alice Johnson in the Notes column.

Most explicit — create per-recipient tags like Realtor – Gifts – Alice Johnson. Useful if you give multiple gifts per year to the same VIP client and want to see them grouped without using the Notes column.

What's flagged as a "gift"

ExpenseBot pulls receipts from any tag whose name ends in Gifts:

• Realtor – Gifts (the realtor 5-bundle's gift category)
• Client Gifts
• Wedding – Gifts
• Gifts (generic)

If you use a different naming convention, the report shows you a "tags scanned" count up front so you can tell whether your gift receipts are being included.