Actual tax law: THE truth about business meal deductions

I once had a client who was absolutely certain that all their meals with their spouse were deductible. After all, they often discussed business over dinner, so it must count as a business expense, right?

They’d seen this tip floating around on social media, and it sounded logical enough.

The problem is, the IRS doesn’t play by social media’s rules. Let me break it down for you.

Not Actual Tax Law:

You thought about business or worked on business during a meal, therefore it's definitely deductible. And even better, you work with your spouse, so all your meals with your spouse are deductible.

Problem:

Meals are heavily scrutinized in IRS audits and relying on made up social media tax evasion strategies do
not protect you.

Actual Tax Law:

The Sutter Rule - prove your meals are different from or more than what you'd spend on personal meals (usually brought up when you appear to abuse your meals deduction). A good way to slam dunk prove you do NOT meet the Sutter rule is to eat daily business meals with your spouse at home…everyday. Extra points for writing off a private chef at home.

If you want more actual tax law on daily meals and how the court approaches business meal deductions, you can watch it here on Youtube.

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