I recently had my first meeting with an IRS Manager and Agent. One issue I had is they denied some travel expenses. The ones they denied were when I took a colleague with me. I am a salesperson and on occasion I take a rep with me who is better versed in the product or has a better relationship with the buyer. On some occasions, I purchased the flight and hotel for this person to travel with me. The IRS claimed that this was not deductable unless I 1099'd the person. I found this hard to believe. Is this a fact?

In general I guess it depends; you , as an ER of the rep, pay for travel expenses, or reimburse the rep, as your EE, either reg W2 EE or 1099 EE, then you can get to take the deduction on the travel expenses ,ordinary and necessary expenses , that you pay for th e rep.
NOTE; If other individual goes with you (or your EE) on a business trip or to a business convention, you generally cannot deduct his or her travel expenses. You can deduct the travel expenses of someone who goes with you(1) if that person is your EE as said above(2) Has a bona fide business purpose for the travel, and(3) would otherwise be allowed to deduct the travel expenses. If a business associate travels with you and meets the conditions in (2) and (3) above, you can deduct the travel expenses you have for that person. A business associate is someone with whom you could reasonably expect to actively conduct business. A business associate can be a current or prospective (likely to become) customer, client, supplier, employee, agent, partner, or professional advisor.

What does "EE" and "ER" stand for?

EE stands for an employee; ER means an employer; sorry for the confusion~~

So problem. Thank you for clarification. Now, based on your comments, let me be clear that my rep had the relationship with the customer and a meeting would not have taken place without him. His knowledge of the product and sales was essential to making the pitch. Therefore, the rep meets the criteria you posted (2 & 3). In addition, the rep is a corporation. That being said, did I have to 1099 him or not?

then you , as a biz, need to issue 1099 to UNLESS he is an S corp/ a C corp; as you are operating for the purpose of making a gain or profit, you have a trade or business, then, you must Issue 1099-MISCs if you have paid $600 or more to an individual or partnership, LLC (or certain corporations,i.e., personal service corp/ medical corp I guess) or have paid $10 or more in royalties. So, you do not need to report payments made to corporations for services, except for payments to corporations that provide legal or medical services. You may treat a payee as a corporation if the payee's name contains an expression of corporate status, such as 'Corporation','Corp.', 'Incorporated' or Inc., but not 'Company', 'Ltd.' or 'LLC'

Your answers are clear and prompt...thank you. Let me add this question regarding MY travel expenses. I provided the IRS with detailed receipts, dates of travel, days gone and purpose for travel - the agent is now insisting on an email or some sort of confirmation that I actually went where I went. I cannot provide additional confirmation. Isn't this a bit excessive? It is obvious I went to where I was going because the results are the sales. Please let me know if this tactic by the IRS is legit and will it hold up in appeal or court.

#1;Basically, You cannot deduct amounts that you approximate or estimate. You should keep adequate records to prove your expenses or have sufficient evidence that will support your own statement. You must generally prepare a written record for it to be considered adequate. This is because written evidence is more reliable than oral evidence alone. However, if you prepare a record on a computer, it is considered an adequate record. If you do not have complete records to prove an element of an expense, then you must prove the element with your own written or oral statement containing specific information about the element, and other supporting evidence that is sufficient to establish the element.If the element is the description of a gift, or the cost, time, place, or date of an expense, the supporting evidence must be either direct evidence or documentary evidence. Direct evidence can be written statements or the oral testimony of your guests or other witnesses setting forth detailed information about the element. Documentary evidence can be receipts, paid bills, or similar evidence. If the element is either the business relationship of your guests or the business purpose of the amount spent, the supporting evidence can be circumstantial rather than direct. For example, the nature of your work, such as making deliveries, provides circumstantial evidence ofthe use of your car for business purposes. Invoices of deliveries establish when you used the car for business.I guess you need some professional help from a CPA/an IRS EA in your local area for more accuarate info for help