Business meal

A business meal (Geschäftsessen) is entertainment for business reasons: a company invites customers, business partners or prospects to a meal in order to initiate or maintain business relationships. For tax purposes, the costs are entertainment expenses and therefore business expenses, with restrictions.

What is a business meal?

The business occasion is decisive. Typical reasons for a business meal are a customer appointment, contract negotiations, the completion of a project or getting to know a new supplier. A meal among colleagues only is not a business meal, but staff entertainment. A company dinner with friends or family remains private, even if business is discussed.

Deducting a business meal for tax purposes

70% of the reasonable costs of a business meal with customers are deductible as a business expense, the remaining 30% are not. Input VAT is fully deductible if there is a proper invoice. This applies to tradespeople as well as freelancers. When 100% applies in exceptional cases is explained under deductible entertainment expenses.

Business meals as an employee

If an employee invites customers on behalf of their employer, they submit the bill with the entertainment receipt in their report. The employer reimburses the costs and deducts them as a business expense. If the employee is on a business trip, their per diem is reduced for this meal. If an employee pays for a business meal themselves, they can only deduct the costs as income-related expenses in exceptional cases, for example if their salary depends heavily on sales. The 70% limit also applies then.

What belongs on the entertainment receipt

• Place and date of the entertainment
• Names of all participants, including the host
• Occasion, as specific as possible, for example “Offer maintenance contract 2027” rather than just “business meal”
• Amount of the costs, documented in restaurants by the machine-generated bill from a till with a TSE
• Signature of the host

From when is an entertainment receipt needed? From the first euro; even small amounts need the details. For bills over €250, the name of the entertaining company must also appear on the bill. The details should be added promptly. The GoBD apply to digital storage.

Business meals at home

If the meal takes place in your own home, the tax office usually does not recognise the costs, because a private occasion can hardly be ruled out. Entertainment on business premises, for example in a meeting room, is possible. Your own records with the purchase receipts then serve as proof.

Booking a business meal

In accounting, a business meal is split between two accounts: 70% to entertainment expenses (SKR03 4650, SKR04 6640), 30% to non-deductible entertainment expenses (SKR03 4654, SKR04 6644). More under ledger account.

Business meals with Spesenfuchs

Photograph the bill directly after the meal with the Spesenfuchs app. For the entertainment receipt type, you enter the participants, place and occasion. From this, Spesenfuchs creates the entertainment receipt with your signature and automatically splits the costs into 70% and 30% when passing them on. The data goes to your accounting via the interfaces.

Legal basis and sources: § 4 (4) and (5) no. 2 EStG, BMF letter of 19 November 2025 on entertainment