Meals Included

Hello June!

I am a sole proprietor.

Currently, I travel to a different city during the week and get back home on the weekends. I was going to use per diem rate for my meals and incidentals while traveling but have a question. Most of the hotels include complimentary breakfast. And when you book, you cannot decline it and get a different room rate.

My question is whether this can prevent me from using per diem meal deduction and if yes, then how do I split room rate into lodging and meal parts (the hotel has no price for the meal part, as it is complimentary)?

Thank you.
DD


Hello DD,

You may still use the per diem amount but were I your tax pro I would deduct the value of the breakfast from the hotel cost. Coffee & a donut being of less value than a full breakfast, of course.

For those of you unfamiliar with per diem for indies, here's how it works:

Instead of using as a business deduction your actual meal costs while travelling, you may use the federal per day amount. There are different rates depending on city and date.

If you tend to eat on the cheap when traveling for business you often get a bigger deduction by using the federal rate.

Here are more of my posts on travel per diem and how to use the charts.

Here is the link for the rates in the USA.

Here's the link for foreign travel rates.

-- June