How to Write Off Meals on Your Taxes

You may be able to write off the cost of some meals and entertainment if you're self-employed or own a business. The rules are nuanced, but this is a legitimate deduction that you should claim if you qualify. To help you out, this post explains all the details. 

Key takeaways:

• Meals with clients, investors, or business associates are typically 50% deductible. 
• Meals while traveling for business are 50% deductible. 
• Entertainment is generally not deductible.
• Meals provided for all employees – for instance, staff holiday parties – are 100% deductible. 
• Staff meals or drinks/food provided regularly in the breakroom is 50% deductible.
• Fringe benefits are 100% deductible – for instance, the occasional pizza or doughnuts for the staff. 
• Meals consumed by yourself (excluding while traveling) are not deductible.

Which meals are deductible?

The IRS says that you can deduct the cost of meals directly related to or associated with business activities. To qualify for a deduction, meals must meet the following requirements:

• Ordinary and necessary – The meals must be a common expense for your type of business and they must be helpful for your business. The ordinary and necessary standard applies to all business expenses. 
• Connected to the business – There must be a valid business purpose, such as feeding employees or meeting with clients. 
• Not lavish or extravagant – You cannot deduct costs that are lavish or extravagant, but this rule is subjective.
• Records – You must be able to substantiate the cost of the meal (with certain exceptions explained below) and its business purpose. 
• Presence – You or a business representative must be present. 

If the meals meet the above requirements, they are either 50% or 100% deductible. Typically, restaurant meals with clients or business associates are 50% deductible, while meals provided for all employees (for instance, at an annual holiday party) are 100% deductible. But the rules are a bit more complicated than that as outlined in the examples below. 

Examples of meals that are 50% deductible

You can write off 50% of the following meal expenses:

• Meals with clients – For instance, you are a designer and you take a client out to lunch to talk about an interior design project you're doing for them. 
• Meals with business associates – For instance, you take your accountant out to lunch to talk about tax planning or you buy dinner for a possible new investor.
• Meals while traveling – For instance, meals eaten while you're at a business conference or traveling to meet new clients. 
• Meals with an employee – For instance, you take an employee out for a meal to talk about a promotion. 
• Food consumed at an entertainment event – For instance, you take a client to a baseball game and buy their food at the event. Note that 50% of the food cost is deductible, but the entertainment cost is not deductible. 

You can also deduct 50% of costs related to the meal such as tips, service charges, cover charges, restaurant parking fees, and room rentals for dinner or cocktail parties. 

What if the meal is lavish or extravagant?

If the meal is lavish, you can deduct 50% of the cost that is not extravagant. For example, say that a usual dinner with a client costs $200, but you buy a client a $500 bottle of champagne and spend $1000 on food for the two of you. Rather than writing off half of the $1500 cost of the lavish meal, you should claim 50% of the $200 meal. 

Note that these are sample numbers. The definition of lavish is fairly subjective. It's often dependent on what would be considered ordinary for your industry, area, and clientele.

Can you deduct a meal you eat by yourself?

Unfortunately, no, unless you are traveling. If you go to a coffee shop to work on your laptop or go to a restaurant to enjoy a meal while you plan your upcoming work week, you cannot write off those costs. Similarly, you also cannot deduct costs for buying coffee or snacks for your home office. 

However, if you are traveling, you can write off the cost of meals, even if you're eating by yourself. There are more details on that below. 

Can you give a client a gift certificate for a meal?

You can give a client a gift certificate, but you cannot claim the amount as a business expense. Gift certificates and cash are not deductible gifts. Additionally, you or a representative from your business must be at the meal for it to be considered deductible.

Examples of meals that are 100% deductible

Most meals are 50% deductible, but there are a few exceptions for the following:

• Meals for the benefit of employees – For instance, you hold a holiday party or a picnic for your employees. Doesn't apply to highly compensated employees.
• Meals for advertising or building goodwill with the general public – For instance, meals provided during the grand opening of a new store. Must be available to the general public; only 50% deductible if invitation only.
• De minimis fringe benefits – Snacks or occasional meals provided to employees when the value and frequency make accounting for the cost impractical. For instance, doughnuts bought for the staff on an occasional basis qualify for a 100% deduction, but snacks and free drinks in the breakroom available every day only qualify for a 50% deductible. 
• Meals reimbursed to employees through a nonaccountable plan – However, then, you must pay FICA taxes on the amount of the reimbursement. Meals reimbursed through an accountable plan are only 50% deductible. 
• Meals received by non-employees as a prize or award when a 1099 is issued – For instance, you hold a drawing, a customer wins a meal at a local restaurant, and you issue them a 1099 for the value of the prize.
• Meals billed to clients – you take a client out to dinner and then you add the cost of the meal to their invoice. 

If you're unsure of whether the meals you're paying qualify for a 50 or 100% deduction, consult with a tax professional who's experienced with business taxes. 

Do you have to talk business at the meal?

Not necessarily. If there is a valid business purpose taken care of before or after the meal, you may still qualify to claim a deduction. 

Are restaurant meals ever 100% deductible?

Generally not, but in 2020 and 2021, restaurant meals were 100% deductible. This temporary change in the law was intended to encourage business owners to spend more at restaurants as restaurants were losing revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related government shutdowns. 

What records do you need to write off meal expenses?

You should track the cost of the meal plus keep notes about the date, location, the people at the meal, and the business purpose. If the meal is worth $75 or more, you need a receipt. If you get audited, the right records and receipts are essential – as it's hard to get through an audit without records.

What about meals while traveling?

If you're traveling for a legitimate business purpose, you can write off 50% of the costs incurred for meals, but again, the meals cannot be lavish and you generally cannot include entertainment expenses. 

Rather than tracking the exact cost of every meal, you can claim a standard daily allowance for meals consumed while traveling. As of September 30, 2024, the daily rate is $68 for most locations, but it's higher in some areas – for instance, in San Franciso, the standard daily allowance is $92 per day. 

You can check the current per diem rates for hotel and meal expenses on the US General Services Administration (GSA) website. 

You can only deduct half of this standard allowance, and you may need to claim a lower amount for travel days. The IRS does not stipulate how far you must travel or how long you must be gone to claim travel-based meal expenses- the rules simply state that you are traveling if you must be away from your tax home for longer than an ordinary day of work or you must stop and get a substantial rest to complete your work duties. 

Special daily allowance for people in the transportation industry

If you're in the transportation industry (moving items or people) and regularly travel to different areas, you can use a slightly higher daily allowance instead of looking up the rate everywhere you go. As of September 2024, the rate is $80 per day or $86 per day if outside of the continental United States. 

You must be consistent – you can either use this rate or apply the specific rate in each location for the entire year. You can't jump back and forth between methods. 

What if the meals are included in the cost of the hotel room?

Then, you should make a reasonable estimate for the cost of the meals and claim a 50% deduction. Hotel costs incurred for business travel are 100% deductible. 

Can you write off meals if you are a W2 employee?

No. As of 2025, you cannot write off meals if you are a W2 employee. Even if you incurred the expense for work and your employer didn't reimburse you, you cannot deduct the expenses. 

W2 employees used to be able to claim deductions for certain types of meals and other unreimbursed expenses, but that rule was suspended from 2018 to 2025. 

Deductible entertainment expenses

Entertainment expenses are generally not deductible, but there are a few exceptions. 

To be deductible, the entertainment expenses must be directly related to the business and/or in a clear business setting. If the expenses are not directly related, they may qualify for a deduction if they are associated with business purposes and they directly precede or follow a business discussion focused on securing income or deriving some other type of business benefit. 

For instance, if you take clients to a nightclub or to a party that is primarily social in nature, those expenses are likely not deductible. However, if you own the nightclub and you invite business or local leaders to opening night for publicity, those expenses may be deductible.

Here's another example: say you take clients out on a yacht or on a hunting trip, but the only conversations about business are incidental to the event. Then, the entertainment expenses are generally not deductible. However, say you design yacht interiors, and you take a prospective client on a yacht to show off your skills, that's most likely deductible. 

What if I didn't claim business meals or expenses in a previous tax year?

If you didn't claim all of your eligible meal costs or other business expenses, you may want to amend your tax return. You can amend and claim a refund for up to three years after the filing due date. Talk with a tax pro to see if this is a good idea in your situation. 

Get guidance on business tax concerns now.

The U.S. tax code is extremely complicated, and that's especially true if you own a business. If you're facing an audit, doing tax planning, or struggling with any business tax concerns, use TaxCure to find a tax professional who can help you today. Start your search now and use the filters to narrow down results to see a pro who's experienced with your unique concerns.