Because of changes over the years, it can be quite confusing determining what is deductible and by what percentage when it comes to meals and entertainment expenses for businesses. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enacted by Congress in 2018 made several significant changes to the deductions for meals, entertainment, and employee fringe benefits, including making business entertainment expenses entirely nondeductible. The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) enacted in 2021, in an effort to support the restaurant industry impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, allows businesses to deduct 100% for the costs of some meals provided by restaurants for the 2021 and 2022 calendar years.

After combing through many websites from CPAs, tax attorneys, and the IRS, I have attempted to put together this spreadsheet to make it easier to understand the rules.

In QuickBooks, I recommend creating at least three accounts in the Chart of Accounts: Meals (100%), Meals (50%), and Meals & Entertainment (non-deductible). When adding expenses, I also recommend always having a vendor (Restaurants instead of adding the name of every restaurant to the vendor list) and putting the name of the restaurant in the memo instead along with a description of the type of expense (what it was for). I use Dext, formerly Receipt Bank, for capturing restaurant and other receipts and for pushing these expenses with their attachments into QuickBooks.