6200expenseNormal balance: Debitbusiness6200 — Meals
Meals is the account with an asterisk attached, and it is worth being upfront about it: a meal with a client discussing business, food bought while traveling for work, a team meal at a work event — all of it is a legitimate business meal, but it is not automatically fully deductible the way most other expenses in this chart are.
As an expense, it carries a normal debit balance, same as any other cost. The important nuance is at tax time, not at the moment of recording: the IRS generally allows only 50% of business meal costs as a deduction. Record the full amount here as it actually happened, and let your accountant apply that limit when the return is prepared, rather than trying to pre-calculate the deductible half yourself.
Entertainment — tickets to a game, a round of golf, even with a client along for the conversation — is generally not deductible at all under current tax law, regardless of the business purpose attached to it. The rules here have shifted more than once in recent years, so this is a genuine case to confirm with an accountant rather than assume based on an older rule of thumb.
What belongs here
- meals with clients or prospects while discussing business
- meals while traveling for business purposes
- a team meal at a work-related event
- food purchased for a business meeting
What does not belong here
- your own everyday lunch with no business purpose attached — a personal expense, not a business one
- entertainment like game tickets, even with a client present — generally not deductible at all, a different rule than meals
- general office kitchen groceries used broadly rather than tied to a specific meeting — Office Expense (6250) is a closer fit, though it is a judgment call
Where it shows up
Shows on the income statement, and on Schedule C maps to line 24b. Record the full amount as spent — your accountant applies the roughly 50% deduction limit at filing time rather than you pre-calculating it.
Common questions
- Are business meals fully deductible?
- Generally no — the IRS typically allows only 50% of the cost as a deduction. Record the full expense here and let your accountant apply the limit when filing.
- What about taking a client to a game or event?
- That is entertainment, not a meal, and is generally not deductible at all under current rules, regardless of business purpose. Confirm specifics with an accountant since this area has changed over time.