Business Meals REMAIN Deductible, Kind Of
Are your business foods still deductible in 2018? Yes, kind of. There were changes but for the most part some kind of meals deduction still is available. Let’s review what has changed. Before, we’d a 100% meals deduction for meals furnished at the employer’s place of employment as well as for the advantage of the employer.
That has transformed effective 1/1/18. They will now only be 50% deductible and then eventually stage out completely. There is one exception. If you have meal planning actually done on the premises (like a cafeteria), then it’s deductible so long as the employees pay taxes on the cost of the food prepared. I can’t picture what the accounting for that is going to look like.
It will be interesting to find out if companies continue offering cafeterias for employees with this new accounting problem to cope with. If you go out golfing, go to a game, visit a show or some other form of entertainment, even if it’s with a client, prospect, vendor, or for an obviously business-related purpose, it isn’t deductible.
However, if you go to a show and supper, the dinner will be 50% deductible if you talk business. The show won’t be deductible. That’s the largest change probably. It’s no more “meals & entertainment” that are deductible in the right circumstances. Only meals will be deductible. Make sure your bookkeeper is aware of the tax changes. You’ll need to drop the” & entertainment” from your chart of accounts, and other taxes … Read more