Business meal expenses: deduction and reimbursement

Meal expenses are among the professional expenses that can be covered by the employer in certain cases, or declared as actual expenses to the tax authorities.

Also known as food or catering expenses, they are the second largest business expense, just behind transport costs.

But under what conditions are they reimbursed, and for how much?

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Meal expenses: definition

Are you an employee or self-employed? Meal expenses are considered business expenses when you are obliged to eat outside your home, in the course of your duties and in the interests of your company.

For example, these may include meals purchased :

• during work away from home,
• during on-call assignments,
• during business travel, during an event or business trip, etc.

They may be :

• reimbursed by the employer up to a certain limit ;
• or deducted from the income tax return as actual expenses, if they constitute additional expenses incurred in the course of professional duties.

Meal expenses 2021: ceilings

The ceilings defined by Urssaf, which must not be exceeded for exemption from social security contributions, are not the same for all constraints. They depend on the need to buy a meal in a restaurant or company canteen, for example:

• 19.10 € for a meal in a restaurant during a business trip when it is impossible to eat at home;
• 9.40 € for a meal outside the company premises, during a business trip or a worksite, where working conditions make it impossible to go home to eat, without having to go to the restaurant;
• 6.70 € for a canteen meal, when the employee is obliged to eat on company premises.

How do I calculate the actual meal expenses I can deduct from my income?

In principle, the cost of food is a personal expense, not a professional one.

The tax-deductible amount therefore relates to additional expenses not incurred by the employer, compared with eating at home.

The difference between :

• the flat-rate amount determined by the Administration each year (the value of a meal taken at home),
• and the cost of the meal,
• excluding luncheon vouchers,
• within the limit of the exemption ceiling for meal allowances (see above).

Conditions to be met

According to Service-public.fr, meal expenses must meet 3 conditions to be tax-deductible:

• be necessary for the exercise of the profession (e.g. a business trip or a business meal) ;
• be justified by the distance between work and home;
• be supported by documentary evidence, such as an invoice.

How to determine the acceptable distance? In the event of an inspection, the authorities take into account :

• the density of the urban area,
• the nature of the business,
• customer location,
• working hours.

Example 1

• An employee is obliged to go to a restaurant during a business trip;
• the lump sum representing the value of a meal taken at home is set at €4.95 (in 2021);
• the flat-rate allowance for restaurant meal expenses is set at €19.10;
• the maximum amount for deducting meal expenses per day is therefore €14.15 (19.10-4.95);
• if the employee spends €12, the calculation is 12 - 4.95 = €7.07 in meal expenses, deductible from actual tax-deductible expenses.

Example 2

• An employee is obliged to eat at the company canteen because of his staggered working hours;
• he has luncheon vouchers worth 8 euros, of which 4 euros are financed by the employer, but these are not enough to cover the costs ;
• a meal tray is offered at €11;
• the meal allowance is set at 6.70 euros for self-service meals;
• 11-4 = 7; since 7 is higher than a home meal, you can claim 7-4.95 €, i.e. 2.05 € in actual expenses per meal.

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Conditions for reimbursement of meal expenses by the employer

All employees may be entitled to a meal allowance if they meet the following conditions:

• are obliged to eat at work ;
• do not have access to a canteen or sufficient break time to return home to eat.

In this case, the contract provides for a meal basket bonus. This is compensation in the form of a lump-sum allowance.

In exceptional cases (such as when a client invites the employee to a restaurant, or during a seminar or training course), the employee can also request reimbursement of actual meal expenses from the company, on presentation of an expense claim and supporting documents.

These reimbursements are exempt from social security contributions up to the ceiling set by the Urssaf.

That's why some companies set their own maximum reimbursement amounts, as part of the company agreement or contract.

Greedy employees are free to spend more, but at their own expense!