Bookkeeping & receipts · 6.6
Business Meals: How Does the GmbH Deduct Entertainment Expenses?
Short answer
If you invite clients or business partners to a meal, your GmbH can deduct 70% of the costs as a business expense (Betriebsausgabe). It receives the input tax (Vorsteuer) back in full. The prerequisite is a properly completed entertainment receipt (Bewirtungsbeleg).
Key points
- The entertainment receipt must include: location, date, participants, occasion, and amount of the costs.
- The restaurant receipt must be machine-generated. For amounts of €250 or more, the name of your company must be stated on it.
- A specific business occasion must be identifiable, such as "project meeting website relaunch". "Business meal" alone is not sufficient.
- Tips count toward the total if noted on the receipt.
- A meal solely with your own employees does not count as business entertainment of business partners. Different rules apply here, such as for company celebrations.
- Entertainment expenses are booked to a dedicated account.
Figures & thresholds (as of November 2026)
- Business expense: 70% of reasonable costs
- Input tax: 100%
Legal basis
§ 4 Abs. 5 Satz 1 Nr. 2 EStG§ 15 Abs. 1a UStG
Continue
- Next video: Office in Your Own Home: What May the GmbH Pay?
- Related: What Is a Small-Value Invoice (Kleinbetragsrechnung)?
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