Tax Reform – Meals & Entertainment

Meals & Entertainment Changes

GO! does not give tax advice but we will share what we learned at QBConnect.

Always check with your CPA for tax advice since there are so many grey zones and your CPA is the person that will need to deal with the IRS if there is an audit.

Entertainment

No longer deductible so those country club dues, golf outings and baseball games can no longer be deducted on your taxes says Intuit’s Jim Buffington, CPA.

The IRS is doing a good job of clarifying this change (link below) but they are not providing a good summary of changes to meal rules.

Coffee, Food, Meals

In a bizarre, turn of events, coffee and related break room food and drink supplies are now only 50% deductible.

While coffee seems like a staple for an office since the dawn of the office, many companies have gone a bit overboard with meals and snacks kept at the office.

What about coffee and tea for clients that come onsite?

Well, it may be difficult to stop employees from using the supplies and since meals with clients are also 50% deductible, even coffee and tea supplies for onsite client meetings are 50% deductible.

Employee meals were the main focus in the discussion of meals at this training.

Convenience is the magic work for employee meals.  If the meeting is at the convenience of the employer, the meals are 50% deductible.  Think of this as mandatory meetings during the work day.  Note the word mandatory.

Employee Celebrations are still 100% deductible per the QBConnect training.  So if you have a celebration, all employees are invited and attendance is not mandatory it means that this not not at the convenience of the employer, it’s the convenience of the employee.

New Accounts for QuickBooks

The trainers at QB Connect suggest that all meal related accounts are noted with 50% or 100% to clarify account usage to your CPA.

Office Food & Bev 50% – Recode of transactions previously coded to office supplies.

All Staff Celebrations 100% – Rename All Staff Meals and recode all company meeting expenses to a new account.

Meals – 50% Deductible – This now includes all company meeting food, travel meals, and business meeting meals which include meetings with clients.  The rule is at least one employee must be present at the meal.  Remember, the names of all who attended meal, their title and reason for meeting must be written on the receipt.

Entertainment – Non-Deductible – Make sure this account is created as an Other Expense type so it is not included in Net Profit.

The IRS is still not providing very good guidance on this topic which means things are left up to interpretation.  Link to IRS page