J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2013: For Preparing Your 2012 Tax Return

20.21 Your Personal Share of Entertainment Costs

If the entertaining occurred while on a business trip away from home, you deduct your own meal costs as travel expenses away from home (20.6). If the entertaining occurred within the locality of your regular place of business, the IRS will generally not disallow your deduction of your own part of the meal cost unless you are claiming a substantial amount that includes personal living expenses. In such a case, which generally is limited to situations where personal meals are regularly claimed as part of an “abusive” pattern, the IRS will follow the stricter Tax Court rule (sometimes referred to as the “Sutter” rule) and allow only that part of the meal cost that exceeds what you would usually spend on yourself when alone.

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Filing Tip

Allocating Payment Covering Lodging and Meals

A hotel may include meals in a room charge. In such cases, the room charge must be allocated between the meals/entertainment and lodging. The amount allocated to meals and entertainment is subject to the 50% cost limitation. If you receive a per diem allowance from your employer covering both lodging and meals under an accountable reimbursement plan, you may have to allocate part of the reimbursement to meals in order to deduct expenses in excess of the reimbursement (20.32).

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