{"id":15254,"date":"2023-04-16T16:09:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-16T16:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.accountable.de\/deductions\/restaurant-2\/"},"modified":"2023-04-16T16:09:49","modified_gmt":"2023-04-16T16:09:49","slug":"restaurant-2","status":"publish","type":"deduction","link":"https:\/\/www.accountable.de\/en\/deductions\/restaurant-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Deduct restaurant costs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 id=\"good-news-as-a-self-employed-person-you-can-deduct-restaurant-costs\" class=\"wp-block-heading font-degular scroll-mt-32\">Good news: as a self-employed person, you can deduct restaurant costs!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\">It may well be the most popular and best-loved deductible expense among self-employed people in Belgium: restaurant costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\">Inviting (future) clients, suppliers or staff out for a meal? Then you can deduct these restaurant costs as a business expense. It doesn\u2019t matter whether it\u2019s a business lunch or a business dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"conditions-for-deducting-restaurant-costs\" class=\"wp-block-heading font-degular scroll-mt-32\">Conditions for deducting restaurant costs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\">Unfortunately, the full bill is not tax-deductible. <strong>Only 69% of restaurant costs can be deducted<\/strong>. That 69% rule exists because the tax authorities assume that you (hopefully) enjoyed the meal yourself too. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\">A few other conditions also apply:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list list-disc list-outside ml-0 mb-4 space-y-2\">\n\n<li class=\"font-inter text-base text-black\"><strong>The dinner or lunch has a purely business purpose<\/strong>, such as a meeting, a client visit or a team dinner, and contributes to the growth of your business.<\/li>\n\n\n<li class=\"font-inter text-base text-black\">Only <strong>restaurant costs incurred during the working week<\/strong> qualify. Restaurant visits at the weekend or on public holidays (often private) raise suspicion with the tax authorities. \u2026Unless you can show that it really was a business expense. \ud83d\ude09<\/li>\n\n\n<li class=\"font-inter text-base text-black\">Write <strong>the reason for the restaurant visit and who was present<\/strong> on the back of the receipt. That way you can easily prove it was a business expense in the event of a <a class=\"font-inter text-purple underline underline-offset-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accountable.eu\/en-be\/blog\/should-you-fear-a-tax-audit\/\">tax audit<\/a>. In the Accountable app, you can also <strong>add a note<\/strong> when booking the expense.<\/li>\n\n\n<li class=\"font-inter text-base text-black\">Even though VAT on restaurant costs is usually not deductible, it\u2019s still best to ask for a <strong>VAT receipt<\/strong> for your bookkeeping.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\">\u26a0\ufe0f <strong>A cosy dinner with friends, family or your partner is not accepted as a business expense.<\/strong> <strong>Also be careful with weekends and specific holidays, such as Valentine\u2019s Day or Mother\u2019s Day.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\"><em>You have been warned. <\/em>\ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-about-vat-on-restaurant-costs\" class=\"wp-block-heading font-degular scroll-mt-32\">What about VAT on restaurant costs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\">Even though most restaurant bills nowadays mention \u201cVAT ticket\u201d, it is still impossible to reclaim the VAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udca1 Although <em>(as always)<\/em> there are a few exceptions. In some cases you can reclaim VAT on restaurant costs, for example if you work in the hospitality sector yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"restaurant-visit-vs-meal-delivery\" class=\"wp-block-heading font-degular scroll-mt-32\">Restaurant visit vs. meal delivery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\"><a class=\"font-inter text-purple underline underline-offset-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.deductibles.be\/meal-deliveries-like-deliveroo\">Meal deliveries<\/a> (as part of your work) are <strong>not<\/strong> considered classic \u201crestaurant costs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\">They fall under so-called \u201c<strong>reception costs<\/strong>\u201c. <strong>Meal deliveries are only 50% tax-deductible and not deductible for VAT<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-about-team-dinners\" class=\"wp-block-heading font-degular scroll-mt-32\">What about team dinners?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\">The meal you enjoy with your team during a team activity (for example at Christmas or to kick off a holiday period) is <strong>100% deductible from your taxes<\/strong>. The <strong>VAT<\/strong> remains <strong>0%<\/strong> deductible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"font-inter text-base leading-relaxed mb-4 first-of-type:mt-0 text-black wp-block-paragraph\">In such cases, you do need to make sure that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list list-disc list-outside ml-0 mb-4 space-y-2\">\n\n<li class=\"font-inter text-base text-black\">such an activity takes place no more than once a year;<\/li>\n\n\n<li class=\"font-inter text-base text-black\">the activity is open to all employees;<\/li>\n\n\n<li class=\"font-inter text-base text-black\">and a minimal budget per employee has been set.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","deduction_tag":[556],"class_list":["post-15254","deduction","type-deduction","status-publish","hentry","deduction_tag-food-drinks"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Deduct restaurant costs | Accountable<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accountable.de\/en\/deductions\/restaurant-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deduct restaurant costs | Accountable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Good news: as a self-employed person, you can deduct restaurant costs! 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