Can I Write Off a $500 Dinner If We Talked Business for 10 Minutes?
A popular claim online is that any meal becomes a write-off once business comes up. Grant's answer is short: no. Here's why, and what a deductible meal actually looks like.
“Can I legally write off a $500 dinner if I talk about business for maybe 10 minutes?”
The short version
- No. You have to have legitimate business reasons for writing off meals.
- Eating alone only counts if you are on legitimate business travel. Otherwise you have to be out with employees, business associates or business prospects.
- Document the date, the time, how much you spent and what the business reason was.
- Under audit, your credibility is everything. Only deduct what you know is actually ordinary and necessary.
The short answer
No. To write off a meal, there has to be a legitimate business reason.
The myth: talking shop makes it a business meal
Talking business for five or ten minutes during an hour-long dinner doesn't make it a business meal. If the rest of the dinner was personal, it's not deductible.
Mentioning that you own a business doesn't cut it either.
Why it catches up with you in an audit
Will the IRS notice a single $50 meal? Probably not. But under audit, your credibility is everything.
Once you start to look like you're not credible, more issues surface, and your meals get scrutinized much more heavily.
How to write off meals the right way
Eating alone only counts when you're on legitimate business travel.
Otherwise, you need to be with employees, business associates or business prospects, and you need to be discussing real business.
Document every meal: the date, the time, how much you spent and the business reason.
Only deduct what you know is ordinary and necessary. Keep the documentation, and don't let your credibility slip.
Frequently asked questions
Can I deduct a meal if I only talked business for a few minutes?
No. If you talked business for five or ten minutes during an hour-long dinner and the rest was personal, it's not deductible.
Can I write off meals when I eat alone?
If you are trying to write off meals by yourself, you can only do that if you are on legitimate business travel.
What records do I need for a business meal?
A lot of times, they're going to want to know the date, the time, how much you spent, and what the business reason was.
Who counts as a business guest?
You have to be out with employees or potential business associates or business prospects, and you have to be talking about legitimate business.