{"id":2890,"date":"2009-11-03T14:13:22","date_gmt":"2009-11-03T22:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.huddlestontaxcpas.com\/CPA%20Article\/how-to-make-your-business-meals-deduction-audit-proof\/"},"modified":"2009-11-03T14:13:22","modified_gmt":"2009-11-03T22:13:22","slug":"how-to-make-your-business-meals-deduction-audit-proof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huddlestontaxcpas.com\/blog\/how-to-make-your-business-meals-deduction-audit-proof\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Your Business Meals Deduction Audit-Proof"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly everyone enjoys eating, so an obvious and fun way to entertain\u00a0your business\u00a0prospects and to motivate your employees\u00a0is with food.\u00a0\u00a0However, if your record keeping is inadequate or simply incorrect,\u00a0you could run into trouble in\u00a0an audit.\u00a0\u00a0There are several important\u00a0requirements you must meet in order to deduct your business meals with confidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, you must have a legitimate business discussion.\u00a0The meal should have been arranged for the purpose of conducting business, and your client or employee must reasonably expect a business discussion.\u00a0 If you happen to talk about your business with your waitress, your meal would not be deductible.\u00a0 A deductible business meal involves a pre-arranged meeting with a substantial business discussion.<\/p>\n

Second, the meal should take place in surroundings favorable to having a business discussion.\u00a0 If you decide to meet at a noisy nightclub, the setting would be inappropriate for a decent conversation.<\/p>\n

Third, you need to be able to answer the following questions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Who was entertained?<\/li>\n
  2. Where did the meal take place?<\/li>\n
  3. When did the meal take place?<\/li>\n
  4. Why did the meal take place? (This is the most important.\u00a0 You need to be specific about what you discussed and why you met.\u00a0 Simply saying, “Dinner with a client” is not enough information.)<\/li>\n
  5. How much did it cost?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You can answer most of these questions by keeping the receipt.\u00a0 You don’t need to keep receipts for meal expenses that are\u00a0less than $75, but auditors love to see receipts, and you can avoid most problems in an audit if you have them.\u00a0 A simple way to record answers to these questions is to write them on the back of\u00a0the receipt after\u00a0your meal and then to record them in your tax organizer.<\/p>\n

    These are some simple tips to help you audit-proof your\u00a0deductions for business meals.\u00a0 Please consult your tax advisor if you have any questions that specifically relate to your business.<\/p>\n

    Tawni Berg, CPA<\/a>
    \n    Seattle\/Bellevue Tax Accountants<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Nearly everyone enjoys eating, so an obvious and fun way to entertain\u00a0your business\u00a0prospects and to motivate your employees\u00a0is with food.\u00a0\u00a0However, if your record keeping is inadequate or simply incorrect,\u00a0you could run into trouble in\u00a0an audit.\u00a0\u00a0There are several important\u00a0requirements you must meet in order to deduct your business meals with confidence.\u00a0 First, you must have a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2890","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-deductions","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/huddlestontaxcpas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/huddlestontaxcpas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/huddlestontaxcpas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huddlestontaxcpas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huddlestontaxcpas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/huddlestontaxcpas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2890\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/huddlestontaxcpas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huddlestontaxcpas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huddlestontaxcpas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}