Deduct restaurant costs

The restaurant costs you incur for your customers, future customers, suppliers or partners are tax-deductible.

In practice, you will deduct 69% of the amount of the bill from your income tax and, unless you are a catering professional, you will not be able to reclaim the VAT on these expenses. So the ‘VAT’ ticket is a bit of a misnomer…

In Accountable, the app automatically applies the maximum threshold of 69%: you can simply scan the receipt, check that the total amount is correct and the application will take care of the rest.

The rules for deducting your restaurant expenses are simple.

To be deductible, you will need to be able to prove the link with your professional activity.

So avoid eating out alone (except on business trips), and at weekends and on public holidays. Even though this is not compulsory in Belgium (unlike in Germany, for example), ideally you should keep a record of the person you have invited. This will remove any doubts in the event of a tax audit.

Think you go out to eat too often?

Make sure you deduct a maximum of 3 to 5% of your income in restaurant expenses – or be prepared to justify each individual expense in the event of a tax audit 😉

Good news, in the app, Accountable automatically alerts you when you exceed these thresholds.

Is delivery to the office/home considered a restaurant expense?

No, deliveries of food to the office in the course of work fall under “reception” expenses, are 50% tax deductible and are not deductible for VAT.

Restaurant costs are only the costs you incur when you eat the food in the restaurant.

Please note that for a team meal for an event (e.g. Saint Nicholas, New Year), the tax deduction is 100% and VAT is not deductible. However, you will need to check that it is (i) no more than once a year, (ii) for all staff, (iii) with a minimum value per member of staff.