Business Meals and Travel: What You Can Actually Deduct

Meals and travel are two of the most common business deductions, and two of the most commonly fumbled. The rules have changed a few times in recent years, the internet is full of outdated advice, and the line between a deductible business meal and a non-deductible night out can be thin. Here is where things actually stand.

Business meals are 50 percent deductible

For a qualifying business meal, you deduct half the cost. You may have heard that meals were fully deductible, and they were, but only for 2021 and 2022 as a temporary restaurant relief measure. That window closed, and we are back to the long-standing 50 percent rule for 2025 and 2026. To qualify, the meal has to be ordinary and necessary, you or an employee has to be present, it should involve a client or business contact, and it cannot be lavish.

Entertainment is gone

Tickets to a game, a concert, a round of golf, those entertainment costs lost their deduction back in 2018 and have not come back. There is one nuance worth knowing: if you buy food at an entertainment event and it is billed separately from the entertainment itself, that food can still be a 50 percent meal. The key is the separate receipt.

Travel away from home

Business travel is more generous than meals. When a trip takes you away from your tax home overnight, your transportation, lodging, rental car, and baggage are fully deductible. Meals on that trip are still 50 percent. Your tax home is your main place of business, not necessarily where you live, which matters if you work in more than one city.

Per diem and the commute trap

Instead of saving every meal receipt on a trip, you can use the federal per diem rate for meals and incidentals, though it is still subject to the 50 percent limit. Two things to keep straight: the per diem rates update every year, and your commute is never deductible. Driving from home to your regular workplace is personal, full stop, no matter how long the drive. If driving is a real part of your work, see our guide to the standard mileage and actual expense methods.

What changed for 2026

There is one update, and it is on the employer side. Starting in 2026, businesses lose the deduction for certain meals they provide to employees, like free office snacks and subsidized cafeteria food. If you are self-employed deducting your own client and travel meals, none of that changed for you, your meals are still 50 percent.

How Vuuv helps

The hard part of meals and travel is not the math, it is the substantiation, having the amount, date, place, and business purpose when you need them. Vuuv's expense tracking keeps those details with each expense, so your deductions hold up. Combine it with solid mileage records and your travel deductions are documented instead of reconstructed.

This article is general information, not tax advice. Tax rules change and every situation is different. Confirm the details against current IRS guidance or talk to a qualified tax professional before you file.